Highlights
- The Supreme Court today restored Arunachal Pradesh to the Congress
- "It is a great victory," said senior Congress leader Kabil Sibal
- Arunachal Pradesh had been under President's Rule since January 26
After Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court today restored Arunachal Pradesh to the Congress in the second legal victory for the party that has suffered a string of electoral defeats.
"Thank you Supreme Court for explaining to the Prime Minister what democracy is," tweeted Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi as his party rejoiced.
Terming the decisions leading to the Congress government's dismissal "illegal and unconstitutional," the Supreme Court turned the clock back to when Chief Minister Nabam Tuki was still in power.
Arunachal Pradesh had been under President's Rule since January 26.
The Congress has demanded the resignation of Governor JP Rajkhowa, accused by the party of tacitly backing its rebels and the BJP by facilitating a session ahead of time. The Chief Minister was dismissed in that session held in a makeshift venue.
Senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal said: "It is a great victory, a message for the government and the governor. If the Centre does some mischief with the government, the Supreme Court says we are here to restore the Constitution."
Mr Sibal added that "central ministers behind this should come clean".
The BJP denied that this is a setback, saying it was an "internal matter of the Congress".
The Congress' crisis began in December after 21 of its 47 lawmakers rebelled against the chief minister.
Congress rebel leader Kalikho Pul was sworn in as chief minister on 19 February, with the support of the rebels and 11 legislators of the BJP.
The Arunachal victory is especially sweet for the party after it lost an important state in the northeast to the BJP - Assam - in the May state polls.
In May, the Congress returned to power in Uttarakhand after its chief minister Harish Rawat won a trust vote ordered by the Supreme Court.