Toppling govts by blatant misuse of money BJP’s new model: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday mounted a sharp attack on the Prime Minister and the BJP in the wake of the Uttarakhand crisis, saying it has exposed the “true face of Modiji’s BJP” and declared that the Congress would fight this “demagoguery with democracy”.

Targeting the ruling party at the Centre over the issue, he said in a series of tweets, “Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP’s new model, after failure in Bihar”.

“Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy. This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal & now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modiji’s BJP”, the Congress vice president said.

The Congress government in Uttarkhand led by Harish Rawat plunged in a crisis on Friday with nine party MLAs turning rebels and opposition BJP approaching the Governor staking claim to form the government.

Governor Krishna Kant Paul on Saturday asked Rawat to prove his majority on the floor of the state Assembly by March 28.

The Governor’s directive to the chief minister came even as BJP, claiming majority with support of nine rebel Congress MLAs in the 70-member Assembly, stepped up efforts to form its government, contending that the Rawat ministry has been reduced to a minority.   

While BJP claimed the support of 35 MLAs including the rebel Congress legislators, Rawat said he still enjoys a majority in the Assembly as none of the rebel MLAs have quit the party or the CLP. He also said that five of the rebels were in touch with him.

Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had said the “anti-defection law is in place and whoever is found guilty of violating it will have to be acted against”.

“All Congress MLAs voted with the government when the previous bill was passed in the Assembly and nobody had challenged the bill. Even the BJP accepts the voice vote,” he said.

Congress had on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of seeking to destabilise non-BJP governments through lure of money and political power.

“The duo of Modi and Shah are infamous for forcible eviction of elected governments in this country. Elected government are being destabilised by a sinister conspiracy. After Arunachal Pradesh, it is Uttarakhand,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala Surjewala had said.