Guwahati/New Delhi, Dec. 15: The political scene in Arunachal Pradesh heated up today with the disqualification of 14 ruling Congress MLAs, a day ahead of the Assembly session summoned by governor J.P. Rajkhowa from tomorrow.
Congress had 47 members in the 60-member Assembly while the BJP had 11 before the disqualification and resignation of two Congress MLAs in October. There are two independents.
Of the 31 remaining Congress MLAs, Tuki is said to enjoy the support of 25, enough to sail through any no-confidence vote, party insiders said tonight.
The disqualified MLAs include Pema Khandu and Mutchu Mithi, son of former chief ministers Dorjee Khandu and Mukut Mithi. Jarkar Gamlin, the brother of late chief minister Jarbom Gamlin, and Kalikho Pul, said to be leading the dissidence, were also disqualified.
A notification to this effect was issued by the Assembly secretary M. Lasa this evening said they were disqualified with effect from today under various provisions of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on ground of direction) Rules, 1987, made under paragraph 8 of the Tenth Schedule. Kalikho Pul, said to be leading the dissidence, was also disqualified.
Chief minister Nabam Tuki addressed the media along with his ministers late this evening after calling on the governor at 6pm this evening, requesting him to recall his order of summoning the Assembly session from tomorrow and terming it unconstitutional. Earlier in the day, proceedings in the Rajya Sabha were stalled amid noisy scenes as the Congress protested the "unilateral" decision by Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa to reschedule an Assembly session.
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the BJP of "murdering the Constitution", saying the governor, appointed by the President on recommendation of the Narendra Modi government, has violated the provisions of the Constitution in deciding to advance the Assembly session.
The governor's office, without the advice of the cabinet, has issued an order to advance the session from January 14 to December 16 and take up the impeachment motion served by BJP members against Speaker Nabam Rebia.
"The governor has convened the Assembly without any request from the state government. He has decided the agenda. He has no authority to say that the Speaker cannot preside over the House," Azad said. He said according to Articles 174 and 163 of the Constitution, the governor can convene the Assembly with the cabinet's advice.
Leader of the House and finance minister Arun Jaitley argued that a governor's decision relating to a particular state could not be discussed in Parliament.
Deputy chairman P.J. Kurien said a discussion about a governor can be allowed if there is a "substantive motion" moved by the member.
Azad's motion, seeking suspension of business during zero hour to discuss the matter, was not a "substantive motion", hence it could not be allowed, Kurien ruled. The Congress members rushed into the Well several times as the treasury benches wanted the Chair to disallow any discussion on a state issue.
The continued protest during question hour left chairman Hamid Ansari unhappy. "Will the collective wisdom of the House kindly explain to the Chair why a fellow member should not be given chance to ask questions?" Ansari asked.
However, Azad said the government was responsible for the disruption by "targeting non-BJP governments in states".
No business could be transacted as the House was adjourned several times.
The Congress today described the "conspiracy to destabilise the Arunachal government" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's newest contribution to "cooperative federalism," along with several other incidents of humiliation and victimisation of serving and former chief ministers.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, "Modi, BJP and the RSS, in criminal collusion with crony industrial houses, are attempting to murder democracy and the Constitution by subverting the mandate of the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
In a dangerous game that involves horse-trading of MLAs, blatant allurement and threats and gross misuse of the position of the governor, Modi, Amit Shah, Kiren Rijiju, and Ram Madhav are bent on toppling the government that enjoyed four-fifth majority."
Asked if the crisis was caused by the rebellion of Congress MLAs, Singhvi said, "Majority is proven by trust vote on the floor of the House and the governor cannot act without the advice of the cabinet. The Supreme Court's Constitution benches have written hundreds of pages on the governor's role but the BJP has not learnt any lesson."
Singhvi added, "The governor also set the agenda of the Assembly session for which he has no authority. He directed that removal of the Speaker shall be the first item at the first sitting of the Assembly; that the Deputy Speaker shall preside over the first sitting, that the removal issue shall be completed on the first sitting itself. This is murder of the constitutional scheme."
The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to seek legal opinion on whether a governor can summon an Assembly session without the advice of the cabinet.
The state unit of the Congress has lodged a police complaint against dissident leader Kalikho Pul, accusing him of bribing party MLAs to join the BJP and dethrone the Nabam Tuki government.
Additional reporting by Pranab Kumar Das
