President defers decision on dissolution
President K R Narayanan will meet Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram at noon tomorrow to
discuss the implications of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, since
certain important financial transactions have to be approved by Parliament.
Highly placed Cabinet sources said the winter session of Parliament
was scheduled to adopt supplementary demands for grants worth Rs
40 billion. This could not be done since the Lok Sabha had to be adjourned sine die following withdrawal of support to the
United Front government by the Congress.
The sources said the government has an additional commitment to
the Election Commission: Rs 7 billion will be needed to conduct a mid-term poll if the Lok Sabha is dissolved.
The government, the sources said, is left with two options: having the Lok Sabha summoned for a few days to adopt a vote on
account or promulgate an ordinance to raise the present ceiling of
Rs 50 billion to tide over the situation. There is, however, divergence of views on whether a caretaker government would be morally correct in resorting to the ordinance route to raise such a huge sum of money.
Senior UF ministers Ram Vilas Paswan, Srikant Jena and Chand Mahal Ibrahim had a brief meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma this
afternoon, but no decision could be taken.
The Speaker is understood to have left the matter to the government. The sources said this issue did not figure at the brief council of ministers's meeting this evening which adopted a resolution, recommending dissolution of the Lok Sabha. A decision on this crucial issue should be taken before the President dissolves the House, the sources said.
Sources said the council of ministers's meeting was held at the President's instance, who was keen that they adopt a resolution so that his decision on dissolution becomes easier. The council of ministers's meeting was scheduled to meet earlier in the day, but it was postponed to the evening. The reasons for the postponement was not immediately known.
After the meeting, the prime minister called on the President and apprised him of the ministry's decision.
The decision to recommend the dissolution of the House came after the President had exhausted all possibilities aimed at the formation of an alternative government. The President had several rounds of
consultations with the BJP, the Congress and the United Front to
ascertain their views on the issue.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav appeared displeased by the decision. As the defence minister emerged from South Block after the 20-minute council of ministers meeting, he told reporters, "the prime minister and home minister may say anything, but I will give you the real news on Friday.''
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party tonight conveyed to the President that it was in favour of an early mid-term election.
Setting all speculation to rest, BJP president Lal Kishinchand Advani
told the media that the party had earned the support of some 40
Congress MPs to date as against the 47 needed to cause a split in the
Congress. Therefore, the BJP conveyed to the President that they were not in
a position to muster adequate support and urged him to dissolve
the eleventh Lok Sabha and call early elections.
The BJP and its allies's decision was conveyed to the President by a joint delegation led by former prime minister and senior leader Atal
Bihari Vajpayee which called on Narayanan this evening.
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