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Advani all for use of Article 356 if necessary

Union Home Minister L K Advani has said that failure to use Article 356 to dismiss a state government in a legitimate situation would be equally wrong.

''I suppose that it depends on the situation. The question is that Article 356 not being abused is one thing. But I would also say that if there is a legitimate situation, failure to use Article 356 would be equally wrong,'' Advani said in an interview to a private television network.

Advani made the remark while replying to a question whether the Vajpayee government would dismiss the DMK government to ensure its own survival.

The minister said he strongly believed that Article 356 should not be abused.

Asked what was more important to him as a principle -- ensuring as home minister that Article 356 is not abused or guaranteeing the survival of the government -- Advani said, ''I suppose it depends on the situation. The question is that Article 356 not being abused is one thing. But I would also say that if there is a legitimate situation, failure to use Article 356 would be equally wrong.''

''Will you succumb to pressure to dismiss the Tamil Nadu government to keep your own government going?'' the home minister was asked.

Advani said, ''I think that the answer to that is no. Surely, for the sake of survival, there is no question of abusing any constitutional provision. This is not confined to Tamil Nadu. There are other states also in the country where there is a strong demand for imposing Article 356,'' he said.

He said for a long time there has been a debate as to whether Article 356 should be retained in the constitution or not. Several of his adversaries had been strong advocates of repealing the Article. ''My party has never done that. My party has always felt that when the Constitution-makers conceived of this provision, even though they accepted federalism, they did conceive that there might be certain conditions in which invoking Article 356 would be imperative in the national interest.''

UNI

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