After the Uttarakhand High Court's verdict overturning President's Rule, Harish Rawat met cabinet this morning.
Highlights
- Top court set aside High Court order till April 27, wants to review it
- President's Rule will not be withdrawn till verdict: Centre to top court
- BJP cannot be invited to form govt in Uttarakhand till top court verdict
The political crisis in Uttarakhand became even more complex today with the Supreme Court saying that for now, Harish Rawat of the Congress cannot function as Chief Minister of the hill state. Just yesterday, the Uttarakhand High Court reinstated him and cancelled President's Rule, which was introduced by the Centre last month.
Here is your 10-point cheat-sheet to this big story:
The Supreme Court has said that till its next hearing on Wednesday, Uttarakhand will remain under President's Rule.
That means Mr Rawat, who called a cabinet meeting last night and reported this morning that "11 new decisions were taken" is back to being the former Chief Minister of the state.
"Yesterday I was reinstated by high court, before that I was dismissed chief minister, now I am a former chief minister. It is an interim order," Mr Rawat said.
The Centre has guaranteed that it will not withdraw President's Rule before the top court makes a decision.
That closes off the option of the BJP being invited to form the government, a likelihood the Congress has sought protection from.
President's Rule places a state under the administration of the Centre through the Governor.
Mr Rawat and the Congress - and the Uttarakhand High Court - say the Centre misused President's Rule to get rid of an elected government led by an opposition party.
The Centre says that's incorrect and that Mr Rawat heads a minority government and cannot remain in office.
As evidence, it claims that last month, when Mr Rawat presented the state's budget, nine Congressmen voted against it. The Centre says that the budget was wrongly declared as cleared.
The Centre introduced President's Rule one day before Mr Rawat was to take a trust vote in March. The timing of the Centre's move and its motives have been labeled suspect by judges of the Uttarakhand High Court.
Post a comment