Vajpayee government suffers a blow as President refuses to sack Rabri
George Iype in New Delhi
President K R Narayanan tonight dealt a body blow to the six-month-old Atal Bihari Vajpayee government by returning the Union Cabinet's recommendation to dismiss the Rabri Devi government and impose central rule in Bihar.
After three days of extensive consultations with legal experts and political leaders, the President rejected the Vajpayee government's first proposal to sack a state government and asked the Cabinet to reconsider its decision.
This is the second time President Narayanan has turned down a recommendation by the Union government to dismiss a state government. Last year, the United Front government led by Inder Kumar Gujral had faced considerable embarrassment when the President had returned its advice that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Uttar Pradesh led by Kalyan Singh be dismissed.
Ironically, the same BJP has now been embarrassed by the President's action.
The government's official spokesman said the Cabinet would take a decision on this development only on October 1 after Prime Minister Vajpayee returns from his visit to New York and Paris. The prime minister is scheduled to return on September 30.
But BJP vice-president Kishen Lal Sharma told Rediff On The NeT that the Cabinet will meet informally tomorrow with Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani in the chair to take stock of the situation.
Asked whether the BJP had been taken aback by the President's decision, he said, "No, we had always kept the option open."
In Patna, RJP chief Laloo Prasad Yadav was ecstatic and said the President's decision was "a defeat of the fascist and communal forces". He praised the President for having "upheld the Constitution" and "saved democracy".
In his letter to the government, the President said he did not agree with the assessment that there is a breakdown of the constitutional machinery in Bihar.
Narayanan asked the government to elaborate on the gravity of the law-and-order situation in the state that had warranted invocation of Article 356 of the Constitution.
In his report to the President, Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari had listed several examples to justify his conclusion that "governance of the state cannot be carried out according to the provisions of the Constitution as envisaged under Article 356."
But sources at Rashtrapati Bhavan said the President "was not convinced by the report and the Cabinet's recommendation".
They said Narayanan was annoyed with the government's handling of the crisis on two counts. First, he felt Bhandari had "acted in a partisan manner" as he was a well-known BJP leader active in party politics until his appointment as governor in April this year.
Secondly, he felt it was "imprudent" to axe the Rabri Devi government after it had won a vote of confidence in the state assembly by a clear majority. Rabri Devi won the confidence vote on Monday.
"Considering these points, the President felt that cutting short the government's life by taking recourse to Article 356 would adversely affect not only the Union Council of Ministers but also the people of Bihar," a Rashtrapati Bhavan official told Rediff On The NeT.
The President also took serious note of the reported dissent by one or more Cabinet ministers on the question of invoking Article 356 and the public remarks against the move by some of the BJP's coalition partners.
Narayanan has based his decision on the provisions of the Constitution and the recommendations of the R S Sarkaria Commission on Centre-state relations.
Quoting from the Sarkaria Commission's report, the President has said in his observations to the Cabinet: "Article 356 should be used very sparingly, in extreme cases, as a measure of last resort, when all available alternatives fail to prevent a breakdown of constitutional machinery. All attempts should be made to resolve the crisis at the state level before taking recourse to the provisions of Article 356."
The President also did not want the Vajpayee government to take the extreme measure of axing a chief minister without sufficient notice to the state government.
He is now believed to have called for information, under Article 78, relating to the law and order, economic situation, and corruption in respect of other states which are said to be having problems similar to Bihar's.
While legal experts said the President had "acted wisely", many believe the stage is now set for a confrontation between Rashtrapati Bhavan and South Block.
"By sending the recommendation back to the Union Cabinet, the President has acted wisely. He wants to ensure that the finesse of his judgment should not be criticised by the public and the Opposition parties," leading Supreme Court advocate Rajeev Dhawan told Rediff On The NeT.
He conceded that if the Vajpayee government sends the recommendation to the President once again, the constitutional head of State will be duty-bound to sign on it. "But the big question now is whether the minority Vajpayee government has the courage to return the recommendation to the President," he remarked.
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