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Advani's pitch to Cabinet sealed Rabri's fate

George Iype in New Delhi

Six months after it came to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party government on Tuesday recommended the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government and imposition of President's rule in Bihar, citing worsening law and order situation in the state.

Before he embarked on an eight-day tour to New York and Paris, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee convened on Tuesday morning a meeting of the Union Cabinet specifically to discuss Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari's report on the state.

The Cabinet, which debated the fall-out of sacking the Rashtriya Janata Dal government for nearly two hours, could not reach a consensus on the issue. But forced by the Samata Party's demand and Home Minister L K Advani's presentation on Bihar's lawlessness, the Cabinet finally decided to axe Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

Soon after, Prime Minister accompanied by Advani and Samata Party president and Defence Minister George Fernandes, drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan and communicated to President K R Narayanan the cabinet's decision to dismiss the Bihar government and keep the state assembly under suspended animation.

The President's official spokesperson told Rediff On The NeTthat Narayanan would take a decision on the central government's recommendation only after examining the Bihar governor's report on the law and order situation in the state and after consulting constitutional and legal experts.

The President, who has shown considerable discretion in the matter of imposing Article 356 in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, is expected to go through a process of extensive legal and political consultations before dismissing the Rabri Devi government.

Interestingly, official sources said, the Cabinet meeting witnessed heated debates between senior ministers on the efficacy of axing the RJD government at this juncture.

While the Akali Dal leader and Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Surjeet Singh Barnala disapproved of invoking Article 356 in Bihar, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Law and Justice Minister M Thambidurai strongly argued for the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu as well.

But Advani is said to have set his foot down by explaining the Bihar situation to his Cabinet colleagues and arguing that it is time President's rule was imposed in the state.

Advani elaborated on how the state has slipped into a serious economic and law and order crisis. The home minister submitted before the Cabinet statistics about the political violence and frequent caste clashes and murders to corroborate the government's claim that there was genuine grounds for sacking the state government.

Though the lone AIADMK nominee -- Thambidurai -- agreed with the home minister's submission, he argued for the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu too on similar grounds.

"I urged the prime minister that the Karunanidhi government should also go along with the RJD government because the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu is as bad as it is in Bihar," Thambidurai later told Rediff On The NeT.

Asked how the Union Cabinet reacted to his demand, the minister said some colleagues were of the opinion that the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu is "worse." "We will now step up our demand to dismiss the Karunanidhi government as early as possible," he said.

Thambidurai said he will apprise AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha of the central government's "unwillingness" to take "Bihar-like action" in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK chief has threatened to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government a number of times on the issue of removal of the DMK government.

Home ministry officials said the government finally decided to sack the Rabri Devi government as it could no longer sit on "the frequent reports from Bihar governor." Ever since he became governor in April, Bhandari has sent three reports to the home ministry recommending that the state government ought to be dismissed due to constitutional failure and the breakdown of law and order.

Since then, the ruling coalition has been toying with the idea of sacking the RJD government, but did not take the drastic step fearing political onslaught from the combined Opposition.

While the President is now weighing the pros and cons of sacking the Rabri Devi government hours after it won a vote of confidence in the state assembly, the home ministry has started the logistics of sending additional central forces to the state.

The home ministry anticipates large-scale violence in north and south Bihar where the creation of the new Vananchal state is a hot issue.

Advani has instructed senior home ministry officials and intelligence agencies to keep a close watch on the Bihar situation. "The Centre is now ready to send security forces to the state's trouble-prone areas to prevent violence arising out of President's rule in Bihar," an official said.

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