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President’s anguish over Bihar
Swati Chaturvedi

New Delhi, October 9
The President, Dr A.P.J. Kalam has shared his anguish with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh at the turn of events in Bihar following the Supreme Court’s verdict holding the imposition of President’s rule as “unconstitutional”.

Highly placed sources told The Tribune, that during his unscheduled meeting with the Prime Minister on October 7 the President is learnt to have conveyed his unhappiness and gently suggested that Mr Buta Singh’s continuance as Governor has become “untenable”.

While not crossing any constitutional boundaries, the President is said to have expressed his concern over Mr Buta Singh’s actions and his personal embarrassment at being dragged into an “unsavoury controversy”.

The sources said that the Prime Minister assured him that he was equally concerned at the situation which he is said to have told the President that all measures to rectify it will be taken.

Sources point out that the Prime Minister’s statement that he bore moral responsibility for the decision to impose President’s rule was a first step in this direction. Sources say the Prime Minister was equally concerned that his government had to face the Supreme Court’s wrath.

With the President’s hint that he did not really want Mr Buta Singh to continue as Governor after the Supreme Court’s order sources say that his position is rapidly becoming untenable. They say that he will either be transferred out to another state or simply recalled since the government does not want to upset either the President or the Supreme Court. It may be recalled that the President was woken up at 3 am in Russia for signing the proclamation faxed to him imposing President’s rule in Bihar.

The President prides himself on being a copy book constitutional functionary and has unnecessarily been dragged into a controversy say, Rashtrapati Bhavan sources.

Under the Constitution the President could have returned the proclamation once but, if it was sent to him again he would have had no option but to sign it. The President chose not to return it and signed it the first time itself. Sources say that the government had conveyed to him the reports that the likelihood of horse-trading in Bihar was strong and hence he signed the document.

The correspondent, who is an anchor with SAB TV, regularly writes for The Tribune.