Arunachal crisis: Rebel Congress MLAs defend governor's decision to advance assembly session

NEW DELHI: Rebel Congress MLAs from Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday defended governor JP Rajkhowa’s decision to advance the assembly session after they deserted the then ruling party.

They also accused the speaker of locking up the House against all norms of parliamentary democracy.
“If the government had a majority, it should have demonstrated it in the House. Why did they lock up the House?

The governor’s order — convening the House — may be wrong, but it was done to further the cause of democracy,” the 21 rebel MLAs told the Supreme Court through senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi. “It is an error in favour of democracy.”

He was arguing before a Constitution bench dealing with the legality of the speaker’s decision to disqualify the rebel MLAs, which sparked off a constitutional crisis and led the Central government to impose President’s rule in the state. Dwivedi argued that the chief minister had advised the governor in the first instance to convene the House on January 14. The governor only advanced it to December 16.

Justice JS Khehar sought to know if the governor had convened the House with a motive of preventing the Speaker from acting against the rebel MLAs for defying the party whip. Earlier in the day, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for some BJP leaders, argued the governor could act in his discretion to convene a House at the request of the Opposition and this was not amenable to judicial review.