Rediff On The NeT: Cabinet reverses decision on central rule in UP

Cabinet reverses decision on President's rule in UP

It was a night and day like none other in recent Indian history. Like all great works of drama, it had farce and tragedy, climax and bathos. And ultimately, it had a conclusion that only the most partisan Indians would quibble with.

Sitaram Kesri Late on Wednesday night after seven hours of debate -- with an acrimony and vehemence that has rarely been seen at Cabinet meetings -- the United Front government reversed its decision to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government, dissolve the state assembly and impose President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh. "The Cabinet," a government spokesman said, "decided there was no need to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution."

While the Bharatiya Janata Party was exultant, acclaiming the President as a hero and describing the decision as a victory for democracy, the reaction at Congress president Sitaram Kesri's home was, as one television observer, described it "funereal." Kesri, who had precipitated the crisis on Tuesday evening by demanding the dismissal of the BJP government, was monosyllabic. "Unfortunate," he called the Cabinet decision, then added ominously, "wait and see."

Many political scenarists see a crisis looming on the political horizon -- a likely withdrawal of Congress support to the United Front government or the possible demand for Prime Minister I K Gujral's scalp for having dared to ignore the Congress leader's edict.

Last night when the Cabinet, after six hours of agonising debate, recommended to the President that central rule be enforced in UP, they believed that Presidential assent would be a mere formality. But at 0230 hours, a couple of hours after the Cabinet recommendation reached the Presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan returned the council of minister's advice.

The President, in a brief note to the Cabinet, said he was not convinced about the Union government's contention that the law and order situation had broken down in UP, highly placed Cabinet sources said. It was the first time that an Indian President has asked the Union Cabinet to reconsider its decision.

The Cabinet went into emergency session at 1100 hours on Wednesday at the prime minister's home. Gujral had by then cancelled his French and German tours -- even his visit to Scotland for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, where he is scheduled to deliver the keynote address, appeared in doubt.

For four hours, the ministers debated ways of resolving the unprecedented Constitutional crisis. They knew if they refused to reverse their decision and returned the recommendation to the President, he was constitutionally bound to give it his imprimatur. But they did not want to risk a confrontation with the President, especially when the Cabinet itself was sharply divided over the decision whose legal validity was in some doubt.

Attorney General Ashok Desai was summoned to brief the Cabinet at 1400 hours. Desai, who was in the Cabinet room for about 15 minutes, advised the ministers against imposition of President's rule in UP. It may not stand the scrutiny of law, he said. The Cabinet also heard the views of Solicitor General Tehimton Andhyarujina. He too suggested that the government had a weak case.

At the end of the discussions, Gujral asked the ministers to consult with leaders of their respective parties so that a decision could be taken in the evening. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Telugu Desam ministers wanted the government to respect the President's opinion and revoke the decision while Janata Dal ministers wanted the assembly to be placed in suspended animation.

Predictably, Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav did not want the decision to be changed. Later in the evening, Yadav and his SP colleagues in the Cabinet -- Communications Minister Beni Prasad Verma and Petroleum Minister Jnaneswar Mishra -- stormed out of the meeting when it appeared that the UP decision would be reversed.

Industry Minister Murasoli Maran (DMK) told the Cabinet in the morning that the President's advice should be gracefully accepted and the decision reviewed. He felt the Cabinet should not make it a prestige issue. His uncle, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had already told reporters in Madras that he was against the imposition of President's Rule in UP.

Moreover, Maran said Andhyarujina and Desai had not supported the move on legal grounds. "Regional parties like the AGP, DMK and TDP hold federalism dear to their heart and would not like to be parties to any decision which would undermine this goal," Maran said.

Maran had the support of Telugu Desam Minister Yerram Naidu and Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, sources said.

L K Advani The Janata Dal ministers -- S Jaipal Reddy, Chand Mahal Ibrahim and R L Jalappa -- felt that once the government had taken a decision, it should not go back on it. Taking into consideration the President's concerns, the government could at best keep the UP assembly in suspended animation, the JD ministers said.

Human Resource Development Minister S R Bommai (JD), who was contacted in Paris, and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram (Tamil Maanila Congress) backed the JD ministers.

Ministers felt the prime minister should speak to Kesri before a final decision was taken.

Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Welfare Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia then held discussions with Kesri before the Cabinet met a second time in the evening. Significantly, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh also met Kesri.

Just 24 hours earlier, Kesri and his emissary Pranab Mukherjee had told the prime minister that the Congress wanted Kalyan Singh to go. That demand perhaps seriously hindered rational political judgment at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night.

Governor Romesh Bhandari's report that Tuesday's voting in the UP assembly on the confidence resolution was controversial came in handy. The observers that Bhandari had appointed to monitor the voting had said they could not confirm the identity of the legislators present in the House. There was the added controversy of the 12 Bahujan Samaj Party legislators who voted for the confidence motion. As they do not constitute a third of the BSP Legislature Party, they may be disqualified as legislators under the Anti Defection Act.

Gujral, it is said, did not have his heart in the decision to impose President's Rule. Home Minister Indrajit Gupta was one of the most vociferous voices against the decision to sack Kalyan Singh, but the nay sayers were outnumbered.

As letters flew between Rashtrapati Bhavan and 7, Racecourse Road, the prime minister's home, the BJP too was busy. A BJP delegation, led by party president Lal Kishinchand Advani, called on the President on Wednesday morning and suggested that he seek the attorney general's opinion and refer the Cabinet's recommendation on the imposition of central rule in UP to the Supreme Court.

The delegation also thanked Narayanan for returning the Cabinet proposal for reconsideration.

Briefing the media after an hour-long meeting with the President, Advani said it was the ''first time'' in Indian history that the President had exercised his powers under the Constitution and returned a Cabinet proposal. He described the Cabinet decision as ''politically motivated and malafide.''

The BJP leader informed the President that Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has challenged the governor's advice to impose central rule in the state at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court. ''It would be better to seek the Supreme Court's advice before the high court strikes it down,'' Advani said.

UP Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi also called on the President separately and gave him a detailed account on what had happened in the assembly on Tuesday.

Cabinet Ministers Tripathi informed the President that he has decided to institute a judicial inquiry into the allegations of conspiracy and presence of non-members in the assembly during Tuesday's pandemonium.

The speaker alleged that the conspiracy was ''pre-planned '' and it could not have been ''hatched without the governor's connivance."

Advani impressed upon the President the need to ''recall'' Bhandari "as he had forfeited his right to be governor after rejection of his report by the President."

By this time, 218 MLAs from UP had flown into the capital and squatted outside the prime minister's office, near the outer gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan. They sat there all day, only dispersing in jubilation after word arrived that the Cabinet had reversed its decision.

The BJP will celebrate its "victory" throughout India on Thursday. I K Gujral may yet pay the price for his political gamble, India may yet have a general election soon, but on Wednesday night, all those dire forecasts appeared far away. What mattered in the end for most Indians was that after a bruising, troubling three days, the resilience of Indian democracy had triumphed yet again.

Images, courtesy: Star News

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