Today in Politics: Stalin to Left, parties condemn Presidential reference; Rahul Gandhi to address press conference

Indian Express

16-05-2025

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.
This comes a day after the President Draupadi Murmu, in a reference to the Supreme Court, posed 14 crucial questions over the top court's April 8 verdict that fixed timelines for Governors and the President to act on Bills passed by state Assemblies.
Seeking the Supreme Court's opinion under Article 143(1), Murmu sought to know whether the actions of the Governors and President are justiciable and whether such timelines can be imposed on them in the absence of any such provision in the Constitution.
The reference pointed out that 'there are conflicting judgments of the Supreme Court as to whether the assent of the President of India under Article 201 of the Constitution of India is justiciable or not'.
Under Article 145 (3), when the President makes a reference for the court's opinion, it is placed before a five-judge bench. In the Ayodhya dispute, the apex court, citing pendency of the case, had declined to answer the question referred to it on whether a temple existed below the disputed structure.
This saw a range of reactions from Opposition states. One of the first criticisms came from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin whose government has been in a protracted standoff with Governor R N Ravi over Bills.
Stalin called the Presidential reference a 'desperate attempt to weaken democratically elected state Governments'. 'I strongly condemn the Union Government's Presidential reference, which attempts to subvert the Constitutional position already settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Governor's case and other precedents,' he said in a post on X.
In a post on X, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby quoted Stalin's post and said his party is opposed to the move. 'The governors are acting at the behest of the ruling party BJP and obstructing the functioning of opposition-led state govts. They are violating the federal principles enshrined in our Constitution. All the non-BJP state govts should condemn this move and join together in the fight against centralisation of powers at the cost of states' rights,' he said.
IN CONTEXT: Several governments in the past, including that of the Congress, have used the Presidential Reference route to either resolve vexed legal issues with political undertones, seek clarity on important Supreme Court judgements which impact matters of policy and governance, or at times to lob uneasy and uncomfortable political issues into the Court's domain.
These include issues like the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, the Cauvery water row, the timing of elections after the 2002 Gujarat riots and the alleged 2G licence allocation scam.
Manoj C G details all the times the provision has been used
Congress rallies
The Congress is looking to organise rallies across the country in protest of the BJP's alleged attempts to 'politicise' Operation Sindoor.
Another central focus of these rallies, the party added, was to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'silence' on US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting attended by several Congress Working Committee members and senior leaders Thursday, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh and Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the BJP was trying to spin the military action as a 'brand' for itself.
A series of 'Jai Hind Sabhas' rallies will be held in various states, the party said, to demand answers from the government.
At the meeting, the CWC adopted a resolution saying the Pahalgam raised 'deeply troubling' questions about an 'apparent intelligence failure'.
'Despite heightened tensions and known threats in the region, the terrorists managed to execute a major attack, claiming precious lives. While we wait for an official assessment, it is unfortunate that no accountability has yet been fixed,' the resolution said.
'National security cannot be managed through public relations exercises on television; it demands professional rigour, vigilance, and institutional accountability,' the resolution said.
The resolution also talks of the ceasefire.
'The sudden halt (of military action), without clarity or communication, has led to speculation and concern across the country. Adding to this is the deeply problematic statement by US President Donald Trump, who was the first to claim that a ceasefire was brokered with the use of trade threats and pressure on India,' the resolution said.
The government's silence on this matter is inexplicable and unacceptable, it said.
— With PTI inputs