Uttarakhand crisis: Harish Rawat dares BJP to disrupt Vidhan Sabha or jail him

On 17 April, former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat continued with verbal assault on the Bharatiya Janata Party, daring them to disrupt the Parliament or throw him in prison if they can, as the state of Uttarakhand continues to be in a state of political unrest.

"If they have the guts then they can either disrupt the Vidhan Sabha or send me to prison. The rest will be seen. The Congress high command is backing me fully. This is a fight of the democracy," Rawat told ANI.

He further accused the BJP of wanting to impose an immoral government in the state under the security cover of President's Rule.

Rawat added that the BJP was openly trying to bring people over to their side in an attempt to garner majority but asserted that the people of Uttarakhand were smart enough to not be fooled by such tactics.

On 18 April, the Nainital High Court will resume the hearing on the Centre's decision to impose President's Rule in Congress-ruled Uttarakhand. Rawat had filed the plea challenging the incumbent President's Rule in the state.

The crisis in the hill state erupted on 18 March when nine Congress MLAs rebelled against the Rawat government, resulting in a flip-flop in the passage of the Appropriation Bill.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met Governor KK Paul on the same day and staked claim to form the government.

However, the Centre imposed President's Rule a day before Rawat was supposed to take the floor test in the assembly.

--ANI