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Parliament on Monday gave its stamp of approval to President's Rule in Manipur with the Lok Sabha adopting by a voice vote the statutory resolution on it following a stormy three-and-a-half debate in the House.
The Rajya Sabha had earlier accorded its approval to the presidential proclamation in Manipur.
Union Home Minister L K Advani, however, informed the House that the government would dissolve the state assembly within six months.
Earlier, before the debate started, the Union home minister assured the House that there would be no attempt to form a government in Manipur (during President's rule) until and unless peace was restored in the sensitive Northeastern state.
Initiating the debate, senior Congress leader Santosh Mohan Deb alleged that Manipur had seen 25 chief ministers in 29 years and that National Democratic Alliance constituents were 'playing musical chairs in Manipur'.
He urged the government to review the performance of its advisors on the Manipur crisis and demanded a special package for the state.
Deb pointed out that it was Samata Party leader George Fernandes's 'over-ambitiousness to install his party's government in Manipur that led to the present political crisis'.
K Yerran Naidu (Telugu Desam Party) said his party was opposed to imposition of Article 356 and urged the government to review the anti-defection law in order to prevent similar crises in other states.
Sudip Bandopadhyay (Trinamul Congress) said the government should be more transparent.
But despite their ostensible criticism of the government, both the TDP and the Trinamul Congress supported President's rule in Manipur.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav pointed out that the Manipur crisis had come about because of the tussle between the BJP and the Samata Party.
Assam MP Jayant Rongpi, in a speech, which drew applause from all sections of the House, contended that it was the prime minister and the Union home minister's 'untrustworthiness' that had created the crisis in Manipur.
He pointed out that had Vajpayee and Advani been more forthright with the people of Manipur, the crisis in the state could have been averted.
Rongpi did not spare the Congress either for setting wrong precedents by which the state witnessed defections and frequent change of chief ministers.
Regarding the ceasefire agreement with the Nagaland Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M), Home Minister L K Advani conceded 'that the government has done a U-turn'.
He explained that the decision was necessitated to dispel the impression that a Greater Nagaland was being contemplated and to guarantee the territorial integrity of the Northeastern states.
He asserted that the decision was taken after obtaining the consent of the NSCN (I-M) 'although the media may have painted a different picture'.
Responding to the Congress criticism that the government had gone out of its way to talk to NSCN (I-M) leader Muivah in Bangkok and Amsterdam, Advani pointed out that it was because 'the government had inherited this practice'.
"I will be happy if militant leaders like Muivah come to India to talk to the government," he added, adding "The government has told the NSCN (I-M) that we will be happy to talk to them if they give up arms and abjure violence."
Advani said the government would concentrate on the economic development of the Northeastern states, including Manipur, and that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had already approved such a proposal.
Anti-ceasefire Agitation: Complete Coverage
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