Vajpayee Wants Bhandari Recalled

If the governance of a state cannot be carried on under the provisions of the Constitution, the Centre imposes Presidents rule. But what is to be done when even under Presidents rule, the governance of the state still cannot be carried on as per the Constitution?

This question was posed by leader of the opposition Atal Behari Vajpayee while speaking in the Lok Sabha yesterday on the admissibility of a motion on Uttar Pradesh, demanding recall of Governor Romesh Bhandari.

He said there was no semblance of law and order or a government in the state, and cited several instances of violence and killings, including the recent assassination of senior BJP leader Brahm Dutt Dwivedi.

Considerable concern was expressed over the situation in the state across party lines, but speaker P A Sangma reserved his ruling on admitting the motion until tomorrow.

The BJP wants the motion to be taken up under Rule 184, which entails voting towards the end, an exercise that could lead to considerable embarrassment for the United Front government and the supporting Congress.

However, there were indications yesterday evening that the motion would be admitted under Rule 193, which does not involve voting. CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee favoured discussion under Rule 193 since he felt that the situation could turn confrontationist under Rule 184. The issue rocked the Rajya Sabha also, leading to an adjournment before lunch.

Vajpayees remonstrations found a sympathetic chord across the House with senior leaders like Chandrashekhar, Santosh Mohan Dev (Congress), Somnath Chatterjee and Union home minister Indrajit Gupta expressing serious concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Gupta went to the extent of stating that the state was heading for anarchy, chaos and destruction. He said he would make a detailed statement during the course of the debate on the motion.

What can we MPs from Uttar Pradesh do? There is nobody to listen to us, neither the Governor nor this government. The first thing this government should do is to recall the Governor, Vajpayee said.

Santosh Mohan Dev said the Congress welcomed Vajpayees motion, given the disturbing situation in the state, and asked the United Front government not to sit idle on issues concerning Uttar Pradesh.

Chandrashekhar wanted Parliament to set up a committee on Uttar Pradesh while Somnath Chatterjee favoured the constitution of an advisory committee to advise the government under Presidents rule so that there existed a line of communication between the people and the administration.