Congress seeks President's intervention in Arunachal issue

The Congress on Monday submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to look into the union cabinet's recommendation to impose President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

The opposition party also moved the Supreme Court during the day to challenge Sunday's cabinet recommendation regarding the north-eastern state.

"We've submitted a memorandum to the president and requested him to look into the matter. We briefed the president about it. Whatever questions he had, we replied to him as well," Congress leader Kapil Sibal said after a party delegation met the president and submitted a memorandum on the issue.

The Congress leader also accused Arunachal Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa of violating the constitution. "A governor who creates the crisis himself says there should be President's Rule in the state," he said.

"On one hand, you are responsible for creating such a situation in the state, and on the other you request the union government to impose President's Rule. Both cannot go hand in hand," Sibal added.

The Congress leader said the recent happenings in Arunachal Pradesh were "politically motivated", involving the Bharatiya Janata Party, its president Amit Shah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

"A taped conversation is a testimony to the fact. We have submitted the tape to the court. They have created a conspiracy to destabilise the border state so that their government can be formed there," Sibal said.

"They even tried to bypass the court on this issue," he said.

Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was also part of the delegation, said: "We will fight this (Narendra Modi's) government in court, in public and in parliament. Their agenda is not only to destabilise the Congress government (in Arunachal Pradesh) but all opposition-ruled states. It is an onslaught against all opposition-ruled states in the country."