The Supreme Court agrees to hear at 2 pm today the plea of Congress against the imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh was brought under Presidents rule and the Assembly kept in suspended animation with immediate effect at the close of Republic Day.

That President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to the cabinet recommendation was confirmed by his office in the evening after French President Francois Hollande, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade in the morning, left the country after attending the customary At-Home reception in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Citing Arunachal Pradesh governor JP Rajkhowas report that the state was heading towards a constitutional breakdown, the Centre on Sunday had recommended Presidents rule in the Northeast state after an emergency meeting of the Union cabinet in the morning.

The President had met Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday a day that also saw senior Congress leaders, including the now ousted chief minister Nabam Tuki, meet Mukherjee to allege an effort to destabilise a democratically elected government in the state.

After Presidents rule was declared in his state, Tuki, who was in the capital on Tuesday, told reporters that we will fight this battle legally and politically.

Stating that we were expecting this as they (the Centre and the BJP) have been troubling us from the beginning, he claimed that the Congress still had a majority as 31 MLAs in the 60-strong Assembly were still with the party.

The Congress has already challenged in the Supreme Court the Union cabinets recommendation. The petition, which has also sought a directive to the Centre and the governor to produce before the Supreme Court the entire records based on which Presidents rule was recommended, is expected to be heard today.

While there was acknowledgement that the President had little choice, the timing came in for some criticism as it coincided with Republic Day which marks the day the Constitution came into effect in 1950.

The Congress memorandum on Monday, too, had made a reference to this. On the eve of Republic Day, the values of our Republic must be cherished and reaffirmed. The action of the government in recommending imposition of Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh is a denigration of the values that our republic stands for, the Congress memorandum had said.

Congress allies and even foes were agitated by the declaration of Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal quoted BJP veteran L.K. Advani and tweeted: Prez Rule in Arunachal. Advaniji was right in saying that there are emergency-like conditions in the country.