PM Modi doesn't have faith in Constitution or democracy: Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not abiding by the Constitution and working in a dictatorial manner, thereby putting onus on him to take a lesson from the Supreme Court's verdict on Arunachal Pradesh and thus allow the Delhi Government to work. "Modi ji doesn't have faith either on the Constitution or on democracy. He is ruling in a dictatorial way. He is toppling the opposition governments and working against the Constitution. The Modi Government has got a tight slap twice on its face.first in Uttarakhand and now in Arunachal Pradesh," Kejriwal told ANI. He said that it was not a matter of interpretation rather it was direct dictatorship by the Prime Minister. "It was a committed effort to impose President's Rule which came to the forefront in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. I think, Modi ji will take a lesson from this and respect the Constitution, democracy and the government chosen by the people and even allow the Delhi Government to work," he added. In a major setback to the BJP-ruled Centre, the Supreme Court earlier today quashed "message and direction" issued by Arunachal Pradesh Governor J.P. Rajkhowa and restored status quo as on December 15 when Congress' Nabam Tuki was the chief minister. Arunachal Pradesh had been under President's Rule since January 26. Tuki-led Congress government was dismissed following days of turmoil after 21 of its 47 lawmakers rebelled against the chief minister. The Congress, which had 47 MLAs seats in the 60-member assembly, suffered a jolt when 21 of its lawmakers rebelled. Eleven BJP MLAs backed the rebels in the bid to upstage the government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified. The leader of the dissident faction, Kalikho Pul, was sworn-in as the chief minister on February 19 with the support of the 20 Congress rebels and 11 legislators of the BJP (Rajesh Singh is a senior political commentator and public affairs analyst.)