Centre, Congress lock horns over Arunachal, U’khand crises

NEW DELHI: In a sharp exchange between the Congress and the government, the Opposition party on Tuesday accused the Centre of trying to grab power through the back

NEW DELHI: In a sharp exchange between the Congress and the government, the Opposition party on Tuesday accused the Centre of trying to grab power through the back door in states.

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Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the Centre in Lok Sabha over the political crises in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand—where the Congress governments were dismissed but later returned to power in floor tests.

“You have decided to execute your ‘Congress-mukt’ (Congress-free) slogan by any means. Wherever you get a chance, you destabilise governments and work to replace them with yours. You did so in Uttarakhand and Arunachal and tried in Manipur and Himachal Pradesh too,” Kharge said.

Refuting the charges, home minister Rajnath Singh squarely put the onus on the Congress for the instability in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. “The unfortunate crisis in Uttarakhand happened only because of internal rift in the Congress. Nine Congress MLAs had opposed their own government. In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP didn’t try to break the government but the Congress leaders showed no confidence in their government,” Singh said.

The Congress staged a walk-out in protest but not before telling the government that the recent SC order — asking for a floor test in Arunachal — was a slap for the Centre. “The SC has slapped you and, hopefully, you will not do such things again,” Kharge said.

Taunting the Congress in return for being unable to keep its flock together, the home minister said, “If your boat has hole then it will definitely sink. You can’t blame the water.”