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Vajpayee's indecision on Bihar irks partners

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

A section of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the coalition led by it is getting exasperated with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's indecision on the fate of the Rabri Devi government in Bihar despite Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari's assertion that law and order is non-existent in the state.

BJP officials, speaking on condition that they would not be identified, said Bhandari's weekly reports to the Centre had drawn attention to the utter lawlessness in the state. But the prime minister had still not made up his mind to recommend dismissal of the Rashtriya Janata Dal government, making the ruling coalition appear weak and indecisive.

BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu asserted that ''the prime minister is on the right track. We had promised that we would not misuse Article 356 of the Constitution and unless absolutely necessary, Atalji will not recommend imposition of President's rule in any state''.

Apart from the BJP's Bihar unit, the Samata Party, including its president, Union Defence Minister George Fernandes, have been clamouring for Rabri Devi's dismissal on the plea that law and order has ceased to exist in the state.

While Fernandes yesterday repeated his demand, Vajpayee appears to be exercising extreme caution in the matter, since he is anxious not to send out a wrong signal to the electorate with four states due to go to the polls later this year. Vajpayee is believed to have conveyed his compulsions to Fernandes, but the latter's party, which is largely restricted to Bihar, continues to rake up the issue for its own considerations.

Equally important for Vajpayee is the fact that the Shiromani Akali Dal, a member of the coalition in Delhi, is against the imposition of President's rule in Bihar or any other state, though the Akalis have clarified that they will do nothing to endanger the central government.

But Bihar BJP politicians like Sushil Kumar Modi have told the party's central leadership that any further delay in dismissing Rabri Devi is likely to hurt the BJP's standing in the state. Modi, who was in New Delhi recently, told Rediff On The NeT that the people of Bihar had been taken aback by the challenge thrown by Laloo Prasad Yadav, RJD chief and Chief Minister Rabri Devi's husband . Yadav has dared Vajpayee to dismiss the Bihar government.

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