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Vajpayee faced with Hobson's choice on Bihar

George Iype in New Delhi

The eleven-month-old Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is walking a tightrope for want of a majority in Parliament to ratify the presidential proclamation imposing central rule in Bihar.

While both houses of Parliament were adjourned today following a commotion over the dismissal of Rabri Devi's government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has put the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition on notice.

Gandhi said in her customary address to the general body of the Congress Party in Parliament that since people are "disillusioned" with the coalition, her party is ready to shoulder the constitutional responsibility of running a government at the Centre.

Many believe Gandhi's volte-face on Bihar is a strategic move to strip Vajpayee of the glory of his historic bus trip to Pakistan and the subsequent Lahore Declaration.

Her advisers have also convinced her of the need to take on the BJP because, according to them, the hidden agenda of the Sangh Parivar all these months has been to attack her personally and ridicule the minority credentials of the Congress.

Congress politicians disclosed that the party's decision to oppose President's rule in Bihar is meant to ensure that the minority Vajpayee government does not scrape through with a few diplomatic successes abroad.

"We want to make sure people will forget Vajpayee's Lahore trip because the government has been plunged into a big political crisis in the crucial budget session," a Congress functionary told Rediff On The NeT.

In an attempt to weather the storm caused by the party's decision, Vajpayee convened two meetings of his Cabinet today to discuss the government's next move with his colleagues and coalition partners. Many believe the government's fate hinges on what happens in Bihar.

Even though the government enjoys a slender majority in the Lok Sabha, the tantrums of allies like the Telugu Desam Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, and the National Conference have put the BJP leadership in a hole.

Sources said that at the morning meeting of the Cabinet, Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and ministers belonging to the Akali Dal and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam accused Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani of taking "a partisan decision" to invoke Article 356 in Bihar.

They argued that the decision to impose President's rule was largely motivated by the BJP leadership and the Sangh Parivar and taken "without the concurrence" of the coalition partners.

At one point, Vajpayee reportedly even threatened to resign if the allies start behaving like this when the crucial Budget session has begun.

Legal experts say that technically, the government will not fall even if it fails to get the presidential proclamation ratified in the Lok Sabha. But morally and politically, the BJP will be hard-put to continue in office.

While the government is hoping to scrape through in the Lok Sabha, it is now certain that it will be defeated in the Rajya Sabha where it can muster just 72 of the total 245 votes.

Given this political mess, the government is debating two plans to weather the storm. One, not to table the Bihar resolution in Parliament till the fag end of the Budget session in May. Two, to accept the political reality and revoke President's rule in Bihar.

"Both are dangerous moves. But we are left with no option given the sudden Congress move to oppose President's rule," a BJP politician told Rediff On The NeT.

The Cabinet has asked the law ministry to examine the legal issues, especially if President's rule is revoked and Rabri Devi is reinstated by Parliament.

While the BJP leadership is grappling with the sudden turn of events, the Congress is still unsure whether to pull down the Vajpayee government in the Budget session with the help of the Left parties and the Rashtriya Loktantric Morcha (National Democratic Front) led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav.

A section of the Congress wants Gandhi to seize the mantle of government leadership if and when Vajpayee is forced to resign owing to his failure to muster a parliamentary majority on Bihar. They hope that once that happens, the BJP's alliance partners will come over uninvited to a Congress-led coalition.

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Akali Dal issues whip on supporting President's rule

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