Bhandari Forces Govt Hand On Bihar
Bihar governor Sunder Singh Bhandari has placed the AB Vajpayee government in a fix by describing the situation in Bihar as "grim". This virtually leaves the Centre with no other option but to invoke Article 356, official sources say.
A senior minister told Business Standard that such an assessment should have been made in the confidential report of the governor to the Centre, and not in public. He, however, said Central intervention was a certainty later this week given the recent killings of two MLAs and also Bhandari's assessment.
He said President K R Narayanan will be taken into confidence before the Union cabinet recommends imposition of Central rule. This is to avoid the possibility of the President returning the recommendation as he did in the case of Uttar Pradesh earlier.
One of the options being considered is the imposition of financial emergency in the state without dismissing the government. However, Samata Party leaders have rejected the idea.
Allies of the BJP are to be consulted at the meeting of the coordination committee on June 19 before taking a decision.
A meeting of the Cabinet yesterday decided to send an official team to the state for an independent assessment of the situation. But many felt there was little left to `assess' given the killings and Bhandari's public declaration about the poor law and order situation.
There is no bar to prevent the Centre from dismissing a state government while Parliament is in session. But the BJP could face some difficulty in getting parliamentary approval given its lack of majority in Rajya Sabha, and a wafer thin majority in Lok Sabha. However, the BJP's strength in Rajya Sabha is expected to increase after the June 18 polls.
Samata leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Vajpayee and home minister L K Advani yesterday, and assured them that even though they were in favour of the Rashtriya Janata Dal government's dismissal, they would not push the demand to the point of pulling out of the Vajpayee government.
Meanwhile, the BJP yesterday claimed that since almost all the political parties had unanimously expressed concern at the deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar, there should be no further delay in imposition of President's rule in the state.
"It is very rare that all parties agree that law and order situation in a state has deteriorated. As far as the BJP is concerned, we are of the view that the situation in the state has got out of hand of the state government. Therefore, President's rule should be imposed so as to regain the confidence of the people of the state", party vice-president K L Sharma said
Sharma noted that the CPM had called for a bandh in the state in the wake of the killing of Ajit Sarkar, and said the Centre should immediately ask for the governor's report. Six Left parties have called for a 12-hour Bihar bandh today in protest against Sarkar's killing.