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Advani promises not to misuse Article 356

Union Home Minister L K Advani has asserted that Article 356 of the Constitution would not be misused against any state government.

It would only be used 'rarely and sparingly', he said.

Addressing a mammoth rally on Tuesday, organised by the Marumalarchi DMK to celebrate the 90th birth anniversary of the late Tamil Nadu chief minister C N Annadurai in Madras, Advani said he was being asked why he had not dismissed the DMK government. After all, the critics wonder, he was the target of the February 14 serial bomb blasts in Coimbatore, which claimed over 60 lives.

Advani said initially there was an attempt by the Tamil Nadu authorities to deny that the blasts were targeted at any political leader. Later, however, Chief Minister K Karunanidhi himself admitted in the state assembly that Advani, the then Bharatiya Janata Party president, was the target.

"I am gratified that after the blasts two organisations (the Al-Umma and Jihad Committee) were banned and some action was taken by the government," the home minister said.

Advani said the BJP-led government at the Centre was in full agreement with Dr B R Ambedkar, that Article 356 should not be deleted, that it should only be used when there was a threat to the country's unity and integrity.

UNI

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