CPI demands withdrawal of President’s rule in Arunachal
New Delhi: Breakdown of governance, including law and order, and lock down of Assembly building were cited as key reasons for collapse of the constitutional machinery in Arunachal Pradesh by Governor J P Rajkhowa in its report to the Centre recommending President’s rule.
The Governor also said reports indicated about involvement of ruling Congress through third parties with banned underground Naga outfit NSCN (Khaplang) for pressurising dissident MLAs. Rajkhowa said the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker, together with the government, had prevented the meeting of the Legislative Assembly from taking place in Assembly premises.
“It is worth mentioning that locking of Assembly premises amounts to locking of the Constitution,” the report said.
While recommending central rule in the border state, the Union Cabinet said the Congress government in the state does not command the majority in the Assembly.
By making attempts to prevent the assembly session, “the Speaker, in connivance with the minority government, has tried to defeat the basic principle of democracy and the basic requirement of the Constitution that the Chief Minister must command majority of the House and such majority should be tested on the floor of the House,” the Centre said while batting for central rule in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Centre said there is a complete breakdown of governance, including law and order, in the state. It said the indicators of such Constitutional breakdown are: Governor’s letters/ reference to the Chief Minister on matters of public importance concerning state administration are mostly not responded to, in violation of Article 167(b) of the Constitution.
“Even the Raj Bhavan premises were under seige by the supporters of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and Speaker Nabam Rebia for several hours as the district administration and police did not enforce the prohibitory orders and not even single arrest was made,” the Cabinet’s recommendation said. The Governor, who is the nominee of the President, is being publicly insulted, humiliated and even gheraoed by the supporters of the present government and the state government is behaving as a silent spectator.
Gherao of the Governor amounts to Constitutional breakdown in the state, the Centre said.
Referring to pressurising of dissident MLAs through Naga insurgent group NSCN-K, the Centre said involvement of an unlawful organisation in matters of government formation/ majority is extremely dangerous. There is a need to create an atmosphere where the democratic principle of majority rule can be tested without fear.
Meanwhile, Hitting out at the NDA government over imposition of President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, CPI today demanded withdrawal of the “anti-constitutional” decision and the removal of Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.
“We condemn the imposition of President’s rule there (Arunachal Pradesh). It is an anti-constitutional step by the NDA government. We demand withdrawal of the decision and recall of Rajkhowa in the interest of democracy,” CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said in a statement. Reddy also targeted Rajkhowa for allegedly taking “over-initiative” in helping BJP impose central rule in the north-eastern state.
He dismissed the Governor’s reported remarks that there was law and order problem in the state (before the central rule was clamped).
“This is a shameless pretext to carry out BJP’s dirty tricks to bring Arunachal Pradesh under their rule,” he said. Arunachal Pradesh came under central rule after President Pranab Mukherjee gave assent to the Union Cabinet’s recommendation on such a course following political instability in the state on January 26. The state has been rocked by a political crisis since December 16 last year when 21 rebel Congress MLAs joined hands with 11 of BJP and two independents to ‘impeach’ Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia at a makeshift venue. Rebia had branded the move as “illegal and unconstitutional”. (PTI)