New Delhi, May 13
In a major decision the Centre today agreed in principle with the states to amend Article 356 of the Constitution pertaining to imposition of President’s rule in a state to incorporate safeguards to prevent its misuse.
"We have no objection in principle to incorporate safeguards in the Constitution in this regard...But any decision to bring a legislation would be taken only after consultation with the parties in Parliament," Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told newspersons after the ninth meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter-State Council here.
Mr Advani further said the changes in the political compulsion of the country had contributed towards the feeling that Article 356 should be used sparingly.
On another vital issue i.e. the deployment of Central forces in states, the Centre and states had sharp differences during the meeting and the matter would now be debated further at the next meeting of the full council.
Some Chief Ministers wanted that armed forces be deployed by the Centre with "concurrence of the state governments, but "Centre does not agree with this", the Deputy Prime Minister said.
"I think we can conceive of a situation where the Centre feels that armed forces should be sent to a state .... not only in the North, like Jammu and Kashmir, but also in the east or North-East", he said, adding that "otherwise the Centre will fail in discharging its constitutional duties under Article 355".
Stating that there had "not been a single instance" of the Centre deploying troops in a state on its own since Independence, Mr Advani said on the contrary, there was always a demand for troop deployment by states to face threats from insurgency, terrorism and even natural calamities.
Chief Ministers of Assam, J and K, West Bengal, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh attended the meeting, while Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments were represented by senior ministers.
The next full-fledged Inter-State Council meeting is likely to be held in Srinagar, Mr Advani added.
This was decided after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed impressed upon the need of holding such conferences in Kashmir at today’s meeting, he said.
Earlier, speaking at the meeting Mufti Sayeed stressed that while the mindset of the people of Kashmir had undergone a change, there was an urgent need for a similar change in the mindset of people of the country about the ground situation in the state. He said he had requested the Deputy Prime Minister to issue directives to all Central Government offices to hold their annual conferences in the valley.
