Don't eye Himachal, Manipur with 'avaricious' eyes: Congress to Centre

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the High Court verdict reviving its government in Uttarakhand, Congress today said "those eyeing Himachal Pradesh and Manipur with avaricious eyes must control their greed".

The party also made light of BJP's claims that the Harish Rawat government remains in a minority which will be proved on April 29 when it takes the floor test.

"If that was the case, why did they not allow the floor test earlier planned on March 28?", party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi asked at the AICC briefing.

Singhvi, who represented the Congress in the Uttarakhand High Court as senior advocate, asserted that "those eyeing Himachal Pradesh and Manipur with greedy eyes, avaricious eyes must learn to control their greed."

"They must realise that power is available only through democracy and not through Article 356", Singhvi said in a blistering attack on the Narendra Modi dispensation over its "misuse" of Article 356 in Uttarakhand.

He insisted that the action by the Modi government in Uttarakhand was unprecedented.

"Never in the history of independent India central government invoked President's rule to stay the order of the Speaker when the floor test was to be held within 10 days".

"Never before in the history of Independent India that 356 has been invoked on a Saturday, just 48 hours before the inevitable effect of the disqualification process would have been felt on Monday morning", he said.

He said it was a "blatant intervention through misuse of Art 356" when the Governor had ordered a floor test and Speaker had started disqualifcation proceedings.

He brushed aside a question whether President Pranab Mukherjee should resign in the wake of the High Court observation that the President could go horribly wrong. He suggested to the questioner that the media has the privilege to make any comment.