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Laloo, Mulayam bristle with anger at Cabinet decision

Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha leaders Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav today blasted the Centre's recommendation to dismiss the Rabri Devi government as "highly undemocratic and dictatorial" even as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the pro-Jharkhand parties in Bihar welcomed it as "long overdue".

Reacting sharply to the Union Cabinet's decision, the RLM leaders announced that Morcha MPs would march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to lodge their protest against the recommendation and demand "judicious action" from President K R Narayanan.

Morcha leaders demanded the immediate recall of Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari, describing him as a "BJP agent who is trying to settle political vendetta with RLM leaders".

Laloo Yadav announced a Bihar bandh tomorrow to protest against the Centre's action which, he said, "smacks of fascism in its ugliest form".

Mulayam Singh made a similar announcement and said his party would protest against the action tomorrow in Uttar Pradesh. Both leaders made it clear that the strikes would be peaceful.

Laloo Yadav said the Centre had blown the Constitution and democratic norms to smithereens by today's action as it came within hours of the democratically elected government headed by his wife winning a vote of confidence in the state assembly.

He said though the assembly has 18 months to complete its term, the RLM was not scared of a snap poll.

BJP president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre said: "A state government that cannot ensure the rule of law, has scant regard for constitutionalism and no respect for probity, does not have the moral or legal authority to remain in power."

He said all those who cherished democratic ideals and integrity in politics had no choice but to support the Centre's decision. "Bihar has to be saved from total ruination," he said.

Thakre has convened a meeting of the BJP national executive tomorrow morning to discuss the situation.

BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu hoped the President would take a decision at the earliest. But he could not explain why the Union Cabinet had proposed to keep the state assembly in suspended animation instead of recommending its dissolution, except to say that it was a "collective decision".

Asked whether the BJP would seek a fresh election in the state, Naidu said it was first necessary to re-establish law and order.

In Ranchi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) vice-president Suraj Mandal welcomed the Centre's decision and said it should have come much earlier.

Jharkhand People's Party general secretary Praveen Prabhakar urged the Centre to immediately convene a special session of Parliament and announce the creation of Jharkhand.

In Madras, Congress Working Committee member Rajesh Pilot expressed shock at the decision. Talking to reporters at Madras airport on his way from Bangalore to Trivandrum, he said the law-and-order situation in Bihar was not worse than in BJP-ruled states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

He said the Centre's decision exposed the hypocrisy of the BJP which had opposed the use of Article 356 of the Constitution when it was in the Opposition.

Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas said a government can be dismissed only when there is a constitutional crisis in the state or when the unity and integrity of the country are threatened. She claimed the Congress had never misused Article 356 in such a partisan manner.

But Congressmen from the Jharkhand region have welcomed the decision.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh has said any move to dismiss a state government should be decided by Parliament, a higher elected body, and not the government.

Without referring to the decision on Bihar, he said Article 356 had been a "political weapon" with all ruling parties and no dismissal in the last 50 years was an exception.

But he hoped President Narayanan would set a precedent by asking the government if it had drawn a list of criteria for invoking Article 356.

He said he understood the limitations of the President's powers, but suggested that there could be an amendment to the Constitution allowing only a higher elected body to dismiss a state government. The Centre should be allowed to exercise this power only in emergencies and war-like situations.

UNI

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