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BJP bosses adamant on Rabri's dismissal

Bharatiya Janata Party president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre today said the Centre would review the situation arising out of the President's rejection of its recommendation to dismiss the Rabri Devi government in Bihar only after the return of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from his foreign tour.

Speaking to newsmen in Karaikudi, where he is attending a two-day convention of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit, Thakre said it was a good thing that the President had sent the recommendation back to the Cabinet. "The President should think twice before giving his approval for use of Article 356," he quipped.

Earlier, in Tiruchirapalli, Thakre was more forthright when he said the BJP would ask the government to again recommend dismissal of the Bihar government.

Thakre said the BJP was of the firm opinion that law and order in Bihar was "very bad". Even the Patna high court had passed strictures against former chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and others in connection with corruption cases. Such cases could not be investigated thoroughly as long as the Rabri Devi government was in power, he said.

In Hyderabad, general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu denied that the BJP had suffered a setback because of the President's decision. He urged the government to forward the recommendation to the President again, since it would then be binding.

Any delay in imposition of central rule in Bihar will lead to further deterioration of the situation, he said, calling the state a "textbook example" for invoking Article 356.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) too urged the central Cabinet to send the recommendation to the President again.

JMM (Soren) vice-president Suraj Mandal said in Ranchi that it was unfortunate that the President had returned the recommendation. "Bihar is the fittest case for invocation of Article 356," he said.

UNI

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