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'The people of India need a reprieve from political instability'
President K R Narayanan today dissolved the
eleventh Lok Sabha and directed constitution of the new House by
March 15, 1998.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said the President
felt that ''no political combination was in a position to offer or
receive lawfully valid support of the critical minimum number of MPs
required by that combination to secure a majority in the House''.
'Thus, the President under sub clause (b) of clause 2 of Article
85 of the Constitution of India dissolved the Lok Sabha.'
The official notification for the constitution of the new Lok
Sabha will be issued in due course.
The communique said 'the President took note of the fact that the
people of India need a reprieve from political instability and
deserve a dispensation in which the government is able to discharge
its constitutional duties towards the wellbeing and betterment of
the people of India without being deflected from the primary tasks.'
'He has borne in mind the paramount importance of national
cohesion, political integrity and the need to ascertain the
democratic will of the people, the communique added.
The Union council of ministers which met last evening unanimously
recommended the dissolution of the eleventh Lok Sabha
to the President so that a fresh mandate could be obtained from the people. Prime
Minister I K Gujral, who called on the President later, handed over
a copy of the resolution.
The six-page communique issued at 1530 hours said the legal and
political consultations held by the President over the last five
days following Gujral's resignation 'were aimed at exploring
the possibility of a government formed by a political combination
that are lawful, viable and enjoy reasonable stability.'
The President, it said, 'kept in mind views of a group of first-time MPs who demanded that the Lok Sabha should not be
dissolved.
But it became clear by Wednesday evening that no political
combination was in a position to provide lawful government. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies indicated to Narayanan last evening that their
efforts to obtain the requisite and valid support of MPs had not
yielded results. Therefore, they told the President that they had no objection to dissolving the House. Similarly, Congress President Sitaram Kesri, after
holding discussions with the United Front leaders to iron out differences, also
conveyed that he had not achieved any breakthrough.
Gujral and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who met the
President on Tuesday and at noon today, told him that an early Presidential
decision would have contain the impact of
political developments on the stability of the rupee.
UNI
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