President's rule imposed in Uttarakhand

After almost seven days of verbal battle between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the political crisis in Uttarakhand, President's rule was imposed in the hill state on Sunday.

Sources said the move was taken after Governor K.K. Paul submitted his report.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat earlier condemned the threat by the Centre to impose President's rule in the state.

He said the move will be a murder of democracy, adding it is not acceptable in a parliamentary system.

"The Centre is targeting a small state. The BJP is trying to degrade the established institutions in the states," he added.

Meanwhile, the fate of the nine rebel Congress MLAs would be decided today by Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.

The reported decision to disqualify the nine legislators from the Congress Party, who have revolted against Rawat and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), would reduce the effective strength of the 70-member assembly to 61.

The rebel Congress legislators yesterday released a sting video of Chief Minister Rawat and alleged that he is indulging in horse-trading to save his government.

The video purportedly showed him bargaining with rebel party lawmakers to win their support ahead of the floor test on Monday.

Reacting to the video, the BJP demanded President's Rule in the state, saying Chief Minister Rawat has no right to continue.

A BJP delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday and expressed apprehension that the Congress government may try to abuse the Speaker's office to disqualify rebel legislators to win the floor test.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told the media after meeting the President that there was no need for a show of strength in the assembly following the sting and added that a constitutional crisis existed in the state.

This move has come as a major setback to the Congress as Arunachal Pradesh also witnessed a similar situation of President's rule.