Advani recommends Rabri's removal
George Iype in New Delhi
The Union home ministry has recommended the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government and imposition of President's rule in Bihar, citing
political violence and the worsening law and order situation in the state.
But Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is said to be in a quandary as he fears that axing the Bihar government will force his belligerent ally, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to renew its demand for the removal of the M Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu.
Official sources said Home Minister Lal Kishinchand Advani has suggested the immediate dismissal of the Rashtriya Janata Dal government headed by Chief Minister Rabri Devi.
Advani met President K R Narayanan on Sunday evening and presented before him the home ministry's findings on the deteriorating situation in Bihar. He has reportedly indicated to the President that the Bharatiya Janata Party government will soon recommend the Rabri Devi government.
The home minister advised Narayanan on the need to sack the Bihar government and impose President's rule to save the state from slipping into a serious economic and law and order crisis.
Home ministry officials disclosed that the BJP government has recorded enough evidence to prove that RJD leaders in tandem with the official machinery of the Rabri Devi government let loose largescale violence during the recent Bihar bandh.
The agitation by RJD activists was to protest the raids carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Rabri Devi's home in connection with the alleged involvement of her husband and party president Laloo Prasad Yadav in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam.
Advani has submitted before the President Bihar's crime statistics,
political violence and frequent caste clashes and murders to corroborate the government's claim that there is genuine ground for sacking the state government.
The home minister's move to dismiss the Bihar government has also been compelled by reports from Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari which paint an alarming and deteriorating state of law and order and the collapse of the economy in the state.
While the Union Cabinet will take up the dismissal of the Rabri Devi
government soon after the prime minister's return from South Africa, Vajpayee is said to be in a dilemma on the Centre axing a state government -- the first-ever by the BJP government.
The prime minister's concern stems from the coalition's mercurial
southern alley AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha who has persistently asked for the DMK's removal.
In the past five months, Jayalalitha has threatened to pull out of the BJP coalition a number of times mainly on the issue of Chief Minister Karunanidhi's ouster.
But Vajpayee has refused to heed her request, stating that the central government will not go beyond the constitutional and legal framework of Article 356 to dismiss a state government.
Officials say the home ministry's move to axe the Rabri Devi
government is based on solid legal grounds.
''We have enough evidence to prove that the RJD government does not function effectively to protect people and property in Bihar. Therefore, Rabri Devi's dismissal will stand judicial scrutiny,'' a
senior home ministry official told Rediff On The NeT.
''The law and order situation in Bihar cannot be compared with that of Tamil Nadu,'' he added.
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