Visit Bihar, BJP asks President

CHENNAI, Sept 27 (PTI) — The BJP president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, said today that Article 356 of the Constitution was redundant if it could not be invoked against the Bihar Government under the present conditions.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Thakre said there could be "no worst" situation than in Bihar.

"I think if Article 356 cannot be invoked under the present conditions in Bihar, then it is redundant."

He asserted that the President’s decision to send back the Union Cabinet’s recommendation to dismiss the Rabri Devi government was not a setback to the Union Government.

Ultimately, the people of Bihar were the sufferers as it was a "caste-based government" there, Mr Thakre said.

Mr Thakre said Article 356 had been used nearly 80 times in the past, on many occasions ‘politically’. "We ourselves have been sufferers. But the government has to function by the Constitution," he said.

To a question, Mr Thakre agreed that it had become difficult to use Article 356 whether it was in Bihar or Tamil Nadu. His party was of the view it should be used rarely and certainly not for political purposes, the BJP leader said.

Asked whether he could substantiate his charge that law and order in Tamil Nadu had deteriorated, Mr Thakre said: "It is bad in Tamil Nadu, but it is very bad in Bihar."

He said there had been a series of bomb blast cases in Tamil Nadu and over 60 persons had perished in Coimbatore following the serial bomb blasts there in February this year.

However, when a reporter remarked that the situation in other states like Delhi and UP seemed equally bad, the BJP leader agreed and said "law and order situation is bad in many states, but Bihar tops the list".

When another reporter sought to know his opinion on AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s statement that law and order in Tamil Nadu was the worst, Mr Thakre evaded the query by saying ‘different parties have different perceptions’.

Mr Thakre said doors were open for any political party to have an alliance with the BJP provided it subscribed to the policies of the party.

Asked for his reaction on the statement of the DMK that it could extend support to the BJP-led government provided it proved its secular credentials, the BJP leader said the doors were open for all those who accepted BJP policies. "The DMK has every right to criticise us as well as to co-operate with us," he said.

Asked to comment on the attempts to form a third front as an alternative to the BJP-led government, he said every party in the country had the right to form a front for coming to power at the Centre. "Everybody has the right to have their day dreams. We are all free," he said.

On his talks with the AIADMK chief, Ms Jayalalitha the BJP leader said: The meeting was very happy, very cordial and we discussed general politics.

Asked what was the nature of his discussions with her, Mr Thakre, emerging out of Ms Jayalalitha’s residence at Poes Garden here, said "we discussed only about general politics. When friends meet they do discuss various things."

Mr Thakre answered in the negative, when asked if Ms Jayalalitha’s demand for the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu figured in the meeting.

Replying to another query whether AIADMK’s support to BJP continued, he said: "It is there. Alliance continues."

Meanwhile the DMK on Sunday took exception to the Mr Thakre's observations in Chennai airport on Friday night that law and order situation in Tamil Nadu was 'not good'.

Laloo meets Opposition leaders

NEW DELHI, Sept 27 (PTI) — A day after the RJD government in Bihar got a fresh lease of life, party president Laloo Prasad Yadav today held consultations with leaders of various opposition parties to bring about unity against the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Mr Yadav told reporters here that he had come to the Capital along with his Chief Minister wife Rabri Devi to express his gratitude to President K.R. Narayanan, Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) convener Mulayam Singh Yadav and Left leaders Harkishen Singh Surjeet (CPM) and A.B. Bardhan (CPI).

Demanding the immediate resignation of Governor S.S. Bhandari, who had said that the state was fit for use of Article 356, he said: "If the Governor does not step down on his own, he must be recalled.’’

Asked about the next course of action to be adopted by the RLM, he said it would be decided at further talks with leaders of various opposition parties.

Chief Minister Rabri Devi, said the hue and cry raised by the BJP and the Samata Party against Bihar was just a "bahana" (excuse) to get her government dismissed.

"The fact remains that law and order situation in Bihar is far better than that in many other states," he remarked.

Mr Yadav said the Union Cabinet’s decision not to press further its recommendation for the imposition of President’s rule in Bihar should become a precedent for stability of an elected government in the states.

"This will bring to an end the tendency of a ruling party at the Centre to destabilise state governments under the rule of other parties,’’ he said.

While congratulating opposition parties which stood by the Rabri Devi government, he expressed gratitude to some BJP allies who did not share its perception over the issue and opposed use of Article 356 in Bihar.

Meanwhile a report from Patna said the Bihar unit of the BJP on Sunday urged President K.R. Narayanan to undertake a week-long visit to the state to make an on the spot assessment of what it termed the "chaotic and anarchic" situation prevailing in the state.

"We fervently urge the President to visit Bihar for a week to have an on the spot appraisal of reactions among common people and ground realities in the state after he rejected the Centre’s recommendation for imposing President’s rule," Opposition leader in Bihar Assembly Sushil K.R. Modi said.

The Centre decided not to press further the imposition of President’s rule "keeping in view the prestige of the post of the constitutional head of the country but the state is a fit case for use of Article 356," Mr Modi said in a statement.

"It seemed that the President’s no to Centre’s recommendations is based on the suggestions of the Sarkaria Commission which has no legal basis," he added.

He claimed that all the six parameters set by the Supreme Court for the imposition of Article 356 in the S.R. Bommai case existed in Bihar.

Laloo steps up unity bid

NEW DELHI, Sept 27 (PTI) — Fresh from their victory on the issue of the imposition of President’s rule in Bihar, Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha leaders Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav today met Left leaders as part of efforts to forge unity among anti-BJP forces.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav made a joint call on CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet, with whom relations had witnessed down swing following the launching of the morcha and discussed the strategy to jointly take on the BJP.

Mr Surjeet, however, declined to divulge the strategy merely saying "we are aware that we cannot fight alone. We will try to defend secularism in the best possible way and these things will be discussed later in detail."

Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and his Chief Minister wife Rabri Devi met CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and discussed the political situation.

Mr Laloo Prasad told reporters that the next course of action to be adopted by the morcha would be decided after further consultations with leaders of various opposition parties.

New third front emerging
From Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 27 — Revival of the third front could be a distant fallout of the setback received by the Vajpayee government on the Bihar President’s rule issue yesterday. Some of its present allies, important regional parties, did not mince words while expressing their reservation on the use (or rather what they termed the "misuse") of Article 356. Some supporting parties and potential future allies of the BJP have also decided to distance themselves from the BJP on this issue.

Yet another fallout has been the coming out in the open of political differences within the main party of the ruling alliance, BJP, as well as within the coalition. The fact that difference of opinion existed in the BJP on the government’s economic approach had been known since long. Now, the President’s action has given the "doves" led by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee a much-needed opportunity to point a finger at the "hawks", namely Mr L.K. Advani and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. The RSS, which was backing the "hawks", has reasons to look sheepish.

The decision to recommend President’s rule in Bihar has also cost the BJP in terms of its image as being a party which is different. Ironically, before the President finally said no yesterday, the Congress had become the rallying point of the Opposition parties which were pointing a finger at the BJP and accusing it of transgressing the constitutional limits.

The role played by BJP’s allies, especially the Shiromani Akali Dal, should leave an everlasting scratch on the minds of our politicians. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, Tamil Nadu’s DMK — these are political parties which have a history of opposing Article 356. Thus, no one should have expected Mr Surjit Singh Barnala to be a party to the Cabinet’s decision on Bihar.

Mr Barnala had reported sick on September 22 when the Cabinet decided to recommend President’s rule. In between, he went on record, both from Lucknow and New Delhi, saying he would not like to see Article 356 "misused". It was the same Mr Barnala, who, eight years ago had stood his ground as Governor of Tamil Nadu and refused to play ball with Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar on the imposition of President’s rule in that state.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, especially its leaders like Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had played a major role in opposing the Emergency in 1975. The DMK has a similar history. So does the National Conference.

Mr R.K. Hegde, the other senior Cabinet Minister opposing the move, too has a history of opposing the Emergency. He was a prominent member of Congress (O) and later the Janata Party and Janata Dal before he formed Janashakti.

For the newer regional parties like the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh, Biju Janata Dal of Orissa, Janashakti of Karnataka etc, Centre-state relations are important for their regional functioning and thus their support for the use of Article 356 in any state could have had far-reaching repercussions.

The AIADMK under Ms Jayalalitha is perhaps the only regional party which has been suggesting the use of Article 356. The West Bengal Trinamool Congress led by Ms Mamata Banerjee and Samata Party of Mr George Fernandes and Mr Nitish Kumar are essentially the regional fallouts of dissidence in national parties and thus their support for Article 356 is not surprising.

The TDP stayed away from the meetings convened by Mr L.K. Advani on the Bihar-Article 356 issue. The National Conference also let its reservations be known. And so did the Biju Janata Dal. After this experience, there are indications that the DMK which was at one stage thinking of coming close to the BJP is having second thoughts.

After Mr Vajpayee, along with other ruling coalition leaders attended the September 15 Chennai rally of DMK, there was some talk of realignment in Tamil Nadu. Now it is a different story altogether.

Thus, the third front which had withered away with the successive collapse of the H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral governments seems to be reviving itself.

The Shiromani Akali Dal may not jump into a new bandwagon immediately because of the ruling alliance in Punjab where it needs the BJP (the Congress under Amarinder Singh of Patiala is better organised and thus fresh elections in Punjab may not be the best thing in the interests of SAD).

The other regional parties like TDP, DMK, Biju Janata Dal, Jana Shakti and National Conference may not be averse to being party of a new third front which may play ball with the Congress in tandem with the Left Front.

This will suit the Left as well. The Left and the Congress, while shaking hands at the national level are opposed to each other on the regional plain. The CPM General Secretary, Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, in a recent statement from Chennai had hinted at the revival of the Third Front.

The Janata Dal which had played a major role in the Third Front in the past may find itself on the sidelines this time with leaders of regional parties and the Left playing the major role. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha will now occupy the slot which was earlier with JD.

The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, meanwhile, has already tasted the fruits of her opposition to the Union Cabinet’s Bihar move. When she went to Bihar last week, the District Magistrate of flood ravaged Katihar listened to her with due reverence when she pulled up the local administration for its lapses. At Patna, where she had to wait in the airport lounge for a couple of hours, she was visited twice by Chief Minister, Mrs Rabri Devi, accompanied by RJD chief, Mr Laloo Yadav.

The Congress may not be averse to the growth of the Third Front, its bitter experience of providing outside support to the Chandra Shekhar, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral regimes notwithstanding.