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Operation Bihar could forge Opposition ranks against BJP

George Iype in New Delhi

The Vajpayee government's recommendation to sack the Rashtriya Janata Dal government in Bihar will alter the equations among the secular parties and accelerate the campaign among Opposition parties to bring down the six-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition.

While political observers term Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to axe Chief Minister Rabri Devi "ill-timed," BJP leaders said the government was forced to conduct 'Operation Bihar' because the state had slipped into "lawlessness and anarchy."

"We feel any government at the Centre could have dismissed the RJD government much earlier. It is to our credit that the Vajpayee government did not recommend President's rule in Bihar for six months," BJP general secretary Narendra Modi told Rediff On The NeT.

He said the decision to sack the Bihar government was "not politically motivated." "With state elections round the corner, we are not going to gain anything by removing an Opposition-ruled government," Modi added.

But the BJP government's final nod to remove Chief Minister Rabri Devi is beginning to alter political equations among the various Opposition parties. Led by the Congress and the Left parties, the Opposition is all set to portray the BJP coalition as a government that misuses Article 356.

The Congress campaign began soon after the Union Cabinet's decision to dismiss the Bihar government when a party delegation met President K R Narayanan on Tuesday afternoon and advised him against implementing the Vajpayee government's recommendation.

The delegation, led by leader of the Opposition Sharad Pawar included Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh, P Shiv Shankar and Madhavrao Scindia.

"There is no logic in removing the Rabri Devi government in Bihar because the governor's report on the state is politically motivated," Congress Working Committee member Scindia told Rediff On The NeT.

"Our question is, why should the Vajpayee government restrict President's rule to Bihar alone when the law and order situation in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi is equally bad?" the Congress leader, who is in charge of party affairs in Bihar, asked.

BJP sources conceded the government took the drastic decision on Bihar under pressure from its state unit and its ally, the Samata Party.

But the move could boomerang on the Vajpayee government as the BJP's supporters like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telugu Desam Party and the National Conference have sided with the Congress on the issue.

On Tuesday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi sent Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Scindia to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in an attempt to revive relations between the two parties over the Bihar issue. Mulayam Yadav has joined hands with RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav and their Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha has been urging the Congress leadership to bring down the Vajpayee government.

Though the Left parties have been critical of the Rabri government, they have joined the Congress to bring together Opposition parties on the issue. DMK president M Karunanidhi has also assured the Congress that he will support Morcha leaders and the Congress to oppose Rabri Devi's ouster.

The BJP's allies like the Akali Dal and the TDP -- which head state governments in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh respectively -- have expressed their disapproval of the dismissal of an elected state government.

The National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir has also put on record its strong opposition to the use of Article 356 against a state government.

"We feel the anti-BJP sentiments among the Opposition parties will pick up momentum now. If the Congress is willing and ready, this is the right time for all the secular parties to come together to bring down the Vajpayee government," a senior Communist Party of India leader told Rediff On The NeT.

The Congress is ready for an oust-Vajpayee campaign, but is willing to launch such a political movement and plan for an alternative coalition only after November's assembly election in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan.

Congress and other Opposition leaders believe that if the Rabri Devi government is dismissed and President's rule imposed in Bihar, it will diminish the BJP's poll prospects in the BJP strongholds -- Delhi and Rajasthan.

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