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Bihar Assembly dissolution : UPA on slippery ground

	May 30, 2005

After the midnight coup, which resulted in dissolution of the Bihar Assembly, the focus has shifted to two issues, when fresh elections will be held and two, whether they would be held at all. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is slated to file a petition in the Supreme Court today (May 30) challenging the dissolution of the State Assembly. In earlier cases, the Supreme Court has empowered itself to revive the dissolved legislatures if it finds that the action is malafide. The sweeping power to correct any misuse of Article 356 has been conferred on the Supreme Court by the landmark judgement delivered in the S.R. Bommai case in 1994 by a nine-judge bench.

When the NDA challenges the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly in the apex court, the UPA Government will have the responsibility to prove in the court that Governor Buta Singh’s report, on the basis of which the Bihar Assembly was dissolved, was neither politically motivated, nor hasty.

Legal experts are divided over the dissolution ordered ostensibly to check horse-trading of legislators. The Bommai judgement specifically says that there are no judicially discoverable and manageable standards to decide the allegation of horse-trading. Opinion is also divided on whether a state assembly, once dissolved, can be resurrected. An eminent jurist, Fali S. Nariman is of the view that judicial intervention can be at best an autopsy report on the demise of the House, not a resurrection. But on the other side of the divide, the BJP-led NDA and legal luminaries consulted by it, are of the view that the dissolution can be challenged in the Supreme Court which has the authority to review the Presidential Order dissolving the Assembly. According to former Attorney General Soli Sorabji, the decision to dissolve the Assembly was legally untenable and was an instance of constitutional immorality. Former Solicitor General Harish Salve also expressed the view that the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly was not as per the constitutional provisions and did not appear to be a bona fide exercise.

Observers say that when the matter comes up in the Supreme Court, it can also pass an interim order to prevent fresh elections in Bihar while it is examining the validity of the dissolution.

The midnight dissolution of the Bihar Assembly on May 23 came at a time when the 29 MLA group of Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party appeared to be on the brink of a split. The breakaway group was quite near the 20 MLA mark, which would have allowed it to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law. Once that happened, the Janata Dal United-led NDA in Bihar would have been in a position to stake the claim to form the Government in the state. In fact, there were reports that JDU leader Nitish Kumar was all set to meet the Governor the next morning to put forward his claim to form the Government.

Reports say that the non-NDA members of the dissolved Assembly, who were planning to support Nitish Kumar in the formation of a new Government would also associate themselves with the petition being filed in the Supreme Court.



Assembly dissolved after Presidential approval faxed from Moscow

The Bihar Assembly was dissolved after President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who was on a visit to Russia, faxed back his approval of the recommendation of the Union Cabinet to this effect. The Cabinet earlier held an emergency meeting late into the night after receipt of the Governor’s Report recommending dissolution of the State Assembly. The Assembly had been in suspended animation since the imposition of President’s Rule in the state in March after the elections in February this year threw up a hung verdict where no party or formation was in a position to form the Government. Ramvilas Paswan’s party, the LJP, with its 29 members could swing the balance on either side. First, Ramvilas Paswan said that he will not support any Government which survived with the support or cooperation of either the Rashtriya Janata Dal or the BJP. He flirted for some time with the JDU saying that if it breaks away from the NDA, a new combination could emerge in the state. He was also insisting that the state should have a Muslim Chief Minister. Later he relented to some extent and was willing to accept either a Congressman or an RJD man as Chief Minister provided he belonged to the Muslim community. His attempt appeared to be to ensure that the Lalu Prasad Yadav-Rabri Devi clan was not at the helm of the Government. But this was not acceptable to Lalu Prasad Yadav who said that the RJD as the single largest party should head the coalition and it should be free to choose its leader.

Simultaneously, the LJP MLAs were getting restive and wanted Ramvilas Paswan to play a more active role in the formation of the Government. Many of them wanted the LJP to ally with the JDU to form a Government with the outside support of the BJP. But as Paswan was not willing to associate with the BJP in any manner, many of them were on the verge of forming a splinter group, which would have supported Nitish Kumar in forming the Government, had the Assembly not been dissolved.



NDA calls dissolution a “murder” of democracy

The NDA was naturally upset at the dissolution of the State Assembly and demanded immediate dismissal of Governor Buta Singh and early Assembly elections in the State. The NDA also organised a bandh (total strike) in the state, but the impact was limited. The NDA said that the UPA Government had taken the decision to dissolve the state assembly at a time when JDU leader Nitish Kumar was about to stake his claim.

The NDA leaders came down heavily on the Centre and the way it had dissolved the House. Condemning the UPA’s action, the NDA called it a “fraud on the Constitution” and said that it had exposed the unscrupulous, anti-democratic and fascist character of the Congress-led alliance. It is a “dangerous step”; it has “hijacked the system of governance” in Bihar and politicised the Governor’s office in a blatant manner, NDA Chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee said,

The NDA leaders denied charges of horse-trading and claimed that the LJP MLAs had begun to revolt against the party leadership’s intransigence. “They went to Jharkhand on their own and had expressed the desire to form an anti-Lalu Government,” party general secretary Arun Jaitley said.

The verdict in the Assembly elections was against the Lalu-Rabri misrule and the NDA emerged as the largest pre-poll alliance, Jaitley said. Reacting to the way things moved in Bihar, the BJP called it “political intolerance of the worst kind,” and attacked the “compliant role” of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the entire episode.



No other option, says Prime Minister

The Prime Minister, on the other hand, defended the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly, saying there was no other option for the Centre. Manmohan Singh said, an atmosphere of horse-trading of the worst kind prevailed in the State and the Governor had made a recommendation saying that there was no option other than dissolution of the Assembly. He said the Centre had considerable information to substantiate the Governor’s recommendation.

Manmohan Singh said three months had elapsed since elections were held in Bihar and no Government formation was possible.

Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj asserted that there was no illegality in the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, he rejected the NDA allegation that the dissolution was illegal. Asked about the urgency with which the Cabinet recommended the dissolution, Bhardwaj said there were two reports from the Governor on horse-trading and the other malpractices which had been indulged in to buy MLAs. The Government could not remain a silent spectator to such an assault on democracy.



Fighting over timing of fresh elections

While the NDA wants fresh elections to be held in Bihar at the earliest, preferably before the onset of the monsoon, constituents of the UPA prefer the elections to be held in November, or early next year. The Lok Janshakti Party, which has been hit by defections, wants the elections to be held at either the year end, or January-February next year.

A two-member team of the Election Commission which visited Bihar last week to review the poll preparedness met senior officials of the State Administration who suggested a one-day election in November in view of geo-physical and cultural conditions. State Home Secretary A.K. Biswas said it is the discretion of the Election Commission to fix convenient dates for the elections. But the state administration favours a one-day poll on November 15 with adequate deployment of para-military forces. Biswas said that according to the Met Office, the Monsoon will be delayed and is likely to hit Bihar by June 12. This may cause floods in vast areas, particularly in north Bihar districts for a period of more than three months. He said the floods are likely to keep the Administration pre-occupied with relief operations in the affected areas till September. After September, it will be a time for festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and Ramzan and people belonging to all communities will remain busy with festivities till early November.

The two-member EC team also met representatives of political parties. The BJP, the JDU, the CPI(ML)(L), the Samajwadi Party and BSP demanded a single-phase poll, preferably by the middle of July. The UPA constituents - Congress, the RJD, the LJP and NCP, urged the Election Commission to hold the elections in November or later.



Parties busy crafting new alliances

Political parties have begun to make their first moves for alliances after getting over the shock resulting from the dissolution of the State Assembly. The Congress, the RJD and the Left Front are reported to have reached a tacit understanding on floating a Bihar-centric Secular Front to prevent division of the secular vote. The Left parties have said that it is for the Congress to work out an alliance so that the communal forces are kept at bay. They do not want a repeat of the last Assembly elections which resulted in a hung verdict where the BJP and its allies gained ground at the expense of UPA constituents, fighting the elections separately.

RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said formation of a secular front in Bihar is very much on the cards. He made it clear that the proposed front would be open to all like-minded parties including Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party. He said there is need for fighting the communal forces under a single banner.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that his party would work for the coming together of secular forces and make their combine as broad-based as possible. He said the Congress had tried to form a broad-based alliance of secular forces in the last Assembly elections, but the attempt was not successful.

Observers say that scrutiny of the last elections shows that the Congress, by contesting against the RJD in several places and aligning with the Lok Janshakti Party, had damaged its prospects and the number of MLAs it managed to return, came down. At several places, the votes polled by its nominees were more than the margin of the defeat of RJD nominees. The split in the secular vote enabled the NDA to put up a good show.

The RJD on its part has learnt from its mistakes in the last elections. Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the RJD will offer a better deal to the Congress and other allied parties in the allocation of seats for the next elections. In the last elections, the RJD had offered only a maximum of 29 seats to the Congress. This time, RJD sources say, the Congress may be offered upto 50 seats.

Ramvilas Paswan, on the other hand, has said that the Lok Janshakti Party will go it alone in the Bihar elections. Speaking in Hyderabad, he did not rule out an alliance with like minded parties. He said, elections in Bihar are likely to be held in October.