Mumbai (The Hindu): Editorial says Congress governments in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur will be the next targets

The Shiv Sena’s cold war against the BJP continued on Wednesday with yet another editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna, this time questioning the sanctity of the BJP’s move in dismissing the Uttarakhand government and imposing President’s Rule a day before the floor test, and claimed the moral high ground for preventing an Uttarakhand-like political crisis in Maharashtra by supporting the Devendra Fadnavis government.

“The Uttarakhand government may have lost its ‘majority’, but that decision should have been taken in the State legislature. The Uttarakhand Governor had given Chief Minister [Harish] Rawat time till March 28 to prove his majority on the floor of the House, but what was achieved by imposing President’s Rule a day before the floor test?” the editorial questioned.

Titled Lokshahicha Mrityu Ki Hatya? (‘Is this Democracy’s death or murder?’), the editorial said: “The test for majority was scheduled on March 28, and the Constitution gives this right to a democratically elected government. But a sting video emerged accusing the CM of indulging in horse trading, questioning his morality, and the democratically elected government was strangled to death.” Drawing parallels between the dismissal of the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the editorial said the political grapevine says Congress governments in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur will be the next targets.