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BJP set to turn the tables on Congress

George Iype in New Delhi

With the crucial motion to ratify President's rule in Bihar coming up in the Lok Sabha tomorrow, the government's trouble-shooters are working overtime to ensure support from its disparate coalition partners.

On the other hand, the Congress finds itself in trouble with a majority in the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee revolting against party president Sonia Gandhi's decision to oppose the motion.

Forty members of the BPCC executive committee have resigned in protest against the high command's decision. The enraged members met at the party headquarters in Patna and submitted their resignations to state chief Sadanand Singh.

They charged a section of the Congress Working Committee with trying to sabotage the party in Bihar and said Sonia was dancing to the tune of some of her advisers.

Professor P J Kurien, chief whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, told Rediff On The NeT that "the decision to vote against President's rule in Bihar is final. There is no question of the high command revoking the decision as it has been taken with the concurrence of all the CWC members."

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party politicians -- after three days of talks with key allies like the Telugu Desam Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the National Conference and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam -- have managed to ensure that the motion is passed in the Lower House.

Though the TDP has not yet officially declared its stand, BJP politicians said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has indicated that he will not let down Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at this juncture.

Despite its reservations on the use of Article 356, the TDP leadership is believed to have decided to bail out the government holding the ousted Rabri Devi government in Bihar responsible for growing corruption and caste clashes.

Though the BJP wants the 12 TDP MPs to vote for the motion, Naidu reportedly favours abstaining from the vote. That will still see the government win the Lok Sabha's approval for President's rule in Bihar.

According to TDP parliamentary party leader K Yerram Naidu, the leadership and Chandrababu Naidu are "still debating whether to support the use of Article 356".

"We have been campaigning against the misuse of Article 356 for the past 17 years. But we are aware that the law-and-order situation in Bihar has deteriorated to such low levels that the central government was left with no option," Yerram Naidu told Rediff On The NeT.

But he said the TDP "is not in a hurry to arrive at conclusions", adding, "We feel the Congress is now trying to come to power at the Centre through the back door by playing the Bihar card."

"We expect a decision from Hyderabad tomorrow morning," the former Union minister said.

BJP politicians believe the Congress attempt to form an alternative government at the Centre during the current Budget session of Parliament will force Vajpayee's allies to support the motion on Bihar.

But passage of the motion in the Rajya Sabha is a different ball game, as the Congress is expected to lose more than the BJP on the issue.

Since the BJP does not command a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the government is likely to table the Bihar motion only at the fag end of the Budget session, in May.

BJP politicians argue that a two-month delay in tabling the motion in the Rajya Sabha would give the government leeway to expose the Congress's "double standards".

Additional reportage: UNI

EARLIER REPORTS:
BJP, allies close ranks on Bihar
Congress divided on opposing President's rule

RELATED COLUMN:
Sonia stands to lose quite a bit

The Bihar state page

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