Congress hits out at BJP over political instability in Uttarakhand

The Congress party has blamed the Central leadership of BJP for the political crisis unfolding in Uttarakhand. The state fell into turmoil after incumbent CM Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation.

New Delhi: Congress party, on Saturday, launched a scathing attack on BJP over the political instability in Uttarakhand after Tirath Singh Rawat's resignation from the post of chief minister. The opposition party alleged that Rawat was made a scapegoat as the main aim of BJP is to target West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "In 2017, BJP formed a government in Uttarakhand. But instead of working for the development of the state, they got hungry for power. In the last 4.5 years, two chief ministers have been changed."

He blamed the Central leadership of BJP for this crisis, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda is responsible for the political instability in Uttarakhand.

This comes after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from the post of Uttarakhand Chief Minister, on Friday. BJP is likely to announce another chief minister later in the day.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Devendra Yadav said in the press conference, "BJP imposed such a CM upon Uttarakhand who is not even a member of the Assembly. Due to the preparations of the Congress party and the fear of defeat an attempt was made to run away from the by-election at that time of TSR-1 (Trivendra Singh Rawat). Today, BJP has clearly proved to be an unstable and failed government in Uttarakhand."

He alleged that BJP's justification, citing constitutional compulsion for the resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat, is a lie.

Uttarakhand Congress chief Pritam Singh asserted, "Tirath Singh Rawat took an oath of CM on 10 March. As per the Constitution, if a person is not a member of the house then he will have to be elected within six months. Tirath Singh Rawat had an opportunity that he could become a member of the house by contesting assembly by-election and this crisis could have been avoided."

However, Congress' deputy leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Karan Mahara made serious allegations saying that the main aim of BJP was to target West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to ensure that she should not get elected even at the cost of Tirath Singh Rawat becoming the sacrificial goat.

He said, "The way she challenged Prime Minister, we all know it would not be tolerated. We have seen what happened to LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Now, PM is misusing constitutional bodies to stop her. If he needs to sacrifice Tirath Singh Rawat, he will do that to ensure that Mamata Banerjee doesn't contest."

Meanwhile, Congress is also struggling to choose its Legislative Party Leader for Uttarakhand after the sudden demise of former minister Indira Hridyesh. When asked about the matter, Yadav said that the party is following its constitutional way and would announce it's leader very soon.