United Front confronts vote over Bhandari's conduct

The H D Deve Gowda government will face its first major test in Parliament next week when the Lok Sabha discusses a motion under rule 184, moved by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh, on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and the conduct of state Governor Romesh Bhandari.

Speaker Purno A Sangma on Thursday gave his ruling on Singh's notice to recall the governor on the manner in which he had disagreed with the Union home minister's assessment of the law and order situation in UP.

The Speaker's admission of the motion under rule 184 virtually puts the government to the test as the mover of the motion has a right to press for a vote after the debate.

This will be the second time Prime Minister Deve Gowda will face a vote in Parliament after he came to power on June 1 last year. His government easily won the vote of confidence on 11 days later.

In his fairly lengthy ruling, the Speaker criticised the conduct of the ruling party. ''During the course of the arguments," Sangma said, "the voice from the Treasury benches has not been unanimous. Lack of unanimity on the Treasury benches in this regard is a matter of very serious concern which is inconsistent with the principle of collective responsibility of the council of ministers to the House as spelt out in Article 75 (3) of the Constitution."

"This responsibility is joint and indivisible. The matter is especially grave considering that UP is the most populous state in the country and the law and order situation therein has implications for the country as a whole,'' the Speaker added.

''A discussion on the law and order situation in the state is bound, even if indirectly, to lead to a discussion on the conduct of the governor which, under rules, cannot be allowed except on a substantive motion under rule 184. In the circumstances, after giving a careful thought to all aspects of the matter, I admit the notice of motion under rule 184,'' Sangma ruled.

Jaswant Singh, while seeking to raise the issue on the floor of the House on March 3 and earlier on February 28 tried to drive home the point that the disagreement between the Union home minister and the UP governor on the law and order situation was a matter of grave concern which warranted a discussion under rule 184 rather than a short duration discussion under rule 193.

The Speaker said the thrust of the arguments of members, who demanded that the motion under rule 184 be admitted, was that it is a very alarming situation where the governor of a state, who has been described as 'a part of the state apparatus' and who has a 'duty to report to the Union', publicly contradicts a statement made by the Union home minister on the floor of the House.

It was also emphasised in the MPs's arguments that the state chief secretary, who acts directly under the control of the governor, chose to express shock and surprise at reports about the deteriorating law and order situation in UP.

"It was therefore, argued that a situation had a arisen in which the governor had acted in a manner that impeded the executive power of the Union government, justifying a discussion on the conduct of the governor,'' Sangma said.

The Speaker said he had also noted the assurance given by the governor in a communication that he holds the home minister in high respect and that it was not his intention to contradict or criticise him the minister while revealing the statistics and information in his possession to the press.

"The assurance given by the governor is no doubt welcome but the fact remains that he has not specifically, and in clear terms, denied the remarks attributed to him in the press reports about which reference has been made in the House," the Speaker said.

On the contrary, Sangma added, the governor reiterated that he had merely revealed to the press statistics and information in his possession. "The law and order situation is not a mere matter of number of lives lost, as each human life is valuable'', the Speaker observed.

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