Congress' double standards stands exposed in Uttarakhand

The Congress' euphoria over the March 29 interim order of single-judge bench of the Uttarakhand High Court, allowing floor test on March 31, proved short-lived. On March 30, a day before the floor test was supposed to be held, a two-judge bench ruled that no floor test will take place in the Assembly. The next hearing is scheduled for April 6 while the Centre will send its affidavit on the President's rule by April 4.

However, the Congress' double standards over the single-judge bench's interim order of March 29 on the current political crisis became evident when the grand old party welcomed the judiciary's decision to allow a floor test, but opposed the permission given to the nine rebel Congress MLAs to participate in voting.

The Congress moved a petition before the high court on March 30, objecting to the permission to take part in the floor test of the Harish Rawat government. The Centre too moved the court challenging the interim order, days after President's Rule was imposed in the state.

The Congress was chest-thumping over the high court ruling saying it was a setback for the Centre's order on imposition of President's Rule in the state. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the interim order was virtually a legal slap on the face of the central government as the President's Rule in the state was not accepted prima facie in the court's ruling.

But when it came to the court's order permitting the nine Congress MLAs to vote, the Congress adopted a different yardstick. Singhvi pointed out that separately counting or allowing the nine rebel Congress MLAs to vote is an error.

"Separately counting or allowing the nine MLAs to vote is an error and we may take legal recourse. The rest of the order is recognition of the central government's methodology to try and short circuit the floor test, the vote of confidence and the Speaker's adjudication," he told ANI.

The Congress' stand over Uttarakhand Assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal is also erroneous. It supported the disqualification of the nine rebel Congress MLAs by the speaker, but was silent on the ground that President's Rule was imposed in the state - the speaker ignored the demand of 35 of the 71 MLAs for division of votes for the passage of the state's Appropriation Bill. Instead, Kunjal allowed its passage through a voice vote, which, in itself, is being questioned by the Centre.

While the Congress objected selectively to the court's interim order allowing its rebel MLAs to vote, the BJP questioned the floor test itself on the ground that the judiciary could not order it when the Assembly is in suspended animation and President's Rule is in force.

With the March 30 order of the two-judge bench, which vindicated the Centre's stand of not allowing a floor test, the Congress has again been pushed to the backfoot.