Lok Sabha passes Uttarakhand budget amid Congress walkout

Members from Congress, TMC and BJD, questioned the government’s decision to move the bill on the eve of the floor test. Congress later staged a walkout.

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The Centre had pushed the budget through as an ordinance at the end of March, after Uttarakhand was put under President’s Rule. Arguing that passage of the bill was necessary, Jaitley said there was a constitutional breakdown in the state after the Speaker refused to take votes on the budget and “decided to declare minority as majority”, adding that he had not “certified the budget as passed.”

According to Jaitley, the vote of confidence can either restore the existing government, establish a new government or lead to continuation of President’s rule. “The government, current one or a new one, will be free to come out with its own budget as the Appropriation bill seeks funds only for four months of the current fiscal year.”

Gogoi accused the Centre of indulging in politics to get rid of Congress governments. “You speak of cooperative federalism, but what you pursue is Congress mukt Bharat… democracy for you is a government for the RSS, by the RSS,” he alleged. In reply, BJP MP and former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal referred to Congress’s decision to impose President’s Rule in four states in 1992, he said: “Those who sit in glass houses should refrain from throwing stones on houses of others.”

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