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Bihar polls : Apex court verdict big blow to UPA

	October 10, 2005

The Supreme Court order striking down the Presidential proclamation which dissolved the Bihar Assembly in May this year has dealt a big blow to the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre. The apex court termed the Assembly dissolution as “unconstitutional”, but declined to revive the House, setting the stage for the four-phase elections in Bihar, will begin on October 18.



The five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, in its majority opinion, said the proclamation of May 23 dissolving the Bihar Assembly is “unconstitutional.” The Bench, which examined malafides alleged against Bihar Governor, Buta Singh, observed, “Despite unconstitutionality of impugned proclamation, but having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the present is not a case wherein exercise of discretionary jurisdiction the status quo ante deserves to be ordered to restore the legislative Assembly as it stood on the date of Proclamation dated 7th March, 2005, whereunder it was kept under suspended animation.” The Bench said in a short order, “Keeping in view the questions involved, pronouncement of judgment with detailed reasons is likely to take some time, and therefore, we are pronouncing this brief order as the order of the court to be followed by detailed reasons later.”



The court order quashing the Manmohan Singh Government’s move on the basis of the Governor’s controversial report, was delivered on a bunch of petitions filed by NDA MLAs of the dissolved Assembly which alleged that the House was dissolved at the behest of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to prevent JDU leader Nitish Kumar from forming the Government.



The approval of the Centre’s proclamation came from President Kalam when he was on a visit to Moscow.



The Supreme Court verdict has given the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance an opportunity to demand the sacking of the Bihar Governor and the resignation of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. NDA’s chief ministerial candidate in Bihar, Nitish Kumar said, “The Supreme Court order is a slap on the UPA’s face. Now the Prime Minister should tender his resignation and Governor Buta Singh should be dismissed.”



NDA Convener George Fernandes said the Prime Minister should pay the price for the decision to dissolve the Bihar Assembly. He said, “I would have preferred that the original Assembly was revived as elections cost candidates a lot of money.”



The Union Government, on the other hand, has taken the plea that it would come out with “considered” reaction to the apex court order after the court pronounces the detailed judgment giving reasons for its verdict.



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in Chandigarh on Saturday, October 8, that the Government would wait for the detailed judgment before offering any comment. He said, “I do not disown our responsibility, or my responsibility, as Prime Minister. In the specific case, it was our (of the Union Cabinet) considered judgment that the dissolution was the only practical course.”



Pointing out that the Union Council of Ministers’ decision to recommend the dissolution was based on Governor Buta Singh’s report, the Prime minister said that the Government was not aware of the reasons behind the court order to declare it unconstitutional. He, however, did not respond to questions on whether the Government was contemplating removing Buta Singh following the court order.



To a query whether the UPA Government would prefer appointing apolitical persons as Governors, the Prime Minister said he did not think that spending time in active politics was a disqualification for being a good Governor. Various factors were considered before deciding on the appointment of Governors.





Uncertainty about Governor’s recall



Despite the Supreme Court order rendering the position of the Governor as “untenable”, there is no indication so far of the Centre asking him to quit. The Union Cabinet at its meeting on October 8 discussed the Supreme Court order, but decided to wait for the full judgment before taking any follow up action. Speaking to mediapersons after the cabinet meeting, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy said the Cabinet noted three salient features of the order.



Asked whether any action to replace the Governor was being contemplated, Reddy declined to comment. “When we do not know what are the arguments for the court order, we cannot give any comment hypothetically.”



The Prime Minister met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, October 7, to discuss the Supreme Court order in the Bihar Assembly dissolution case.



“The Congress wants to wait for the full text of the order before it decides what to do with him”, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said. “It is not possible for us at this point of time to say anything without having the text of the judgment in our hands.”









Patil’s statement followed urgent discussions with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee. If his reference was to the court’s detailed judgment, the Governor may stay on till the end of the court’s vacation on October 18 (also the date for the first phase of polling in Bihar.



As for Buta Singh himself, he has let it be known through sources close to him that he is not resigning on his own. He is reported to have said the Centre could seek a review of the court’s decision. It is also possible that he does not consider himself wholly responsible for the dissolution - he said as much in an interview recently.



The BJP held a meeting of its general secretaries on October 8 to discuss the Manmohan Singh Government’s response to the Supreme Court verdict. The party demanded an apology from Dr. Manmohan Singh for misleading the people, Parliament and even the President on the Bihar situation while recommending the dissolution of the Assembly.



BJP leader Pramod Mahajan told reporters in New Delhi, “Dr. Singh should apologise to the nation and recall the Governor within a few hours failing which we would be forced to seek the Prime Minister’s resignation also.”



Not satisfied with Dr. Singh’s reaction that he did not “disown responsibility,” Mahajan said he had no choice but to own responsibility. As for studying the court order, he said the operative part was quite clear. “It is obvious that the order is on a political situation with repercussions. The Prime Minister now has to announce future moves.”



The BJP meeting held, besides Manmohan Singh and Governor Buta Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil “responsible” for the crisis. While the Governor and Patil played the lead role, only the Prime Minister had the authority to convene a midnight cabinet meeting and send the recommendation for the dissolution to the President, who was away in Moscow. Mahajan said Sonia Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav endorsed this political decision. “The Left parties are to be equally blamed for supporting the motion in Parliament,” he said.



Mahajan, however, refused to involve the President, saying he was constitutionally bound to go by the cabinet recommendation.



The Janata Dal (United) reiterated its demand for the resignation of Dr. Singh following the verdict. He had gradually become a “mask” for Sonia Gandhi, the party said.



Addressing a Press conference, JDU general secretary and spokesman Shambu Srivastva said, the Prime Minister could not escape responsibility for the unconstitutional decision. “Since he has owned responsibility (at a press conference in Chandigarh on October 8), he does not have the moral authority to remain in office.”



An NDA delegation is meeting President Abdul Kalam today (Oct. 10) to demand the immediate recall of the Governor.



The RJD, on the other hand, has said that the Supreme Court order has not vindicated the positions adopted by NDA constituents. RJD spokesperson Sanjay Paswan said his party is all for elections. Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party called the interim order “untimely” as the NDA would use it as a political weapon. LJP spokesperson Rajan G. James said, “If the dissolution was unconstitutional, the Assembly should have been restored. Since, it was not done, the apex court could have waited for the elections to be over.”



CPI national secretary D. Raja said while the observation of the apex court on the dissolution needed to be studied, it has upheld the holding of fresh elections.



CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat in his reaction said the Supreme Court judgment has raised wider questions about the role of the office of the Governor. He harped back to the CPI(M)’s longstanding demand for amendment of Article 356 of the Constitution that gives Governors ‘arbitrary and discretionary’ powers to dissolve state assemblies.





Former Union Minister attacked in Bihar



Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad received a bullet injury in his left arm on October 6 when a gunman opened fire on the dais from where he had just finished addressing an election rally at Nokha, near Sasaram, in Bihar. The assailant fired several shots from a country-made handgun before he was overpowered by BJP workers and beaten up. Ravi Shankar Prasad was later shifted to Patna where he was declared out of danger. He has now been brought to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for further treatment.



Observers say that the incident is a symbol of desperate politics being played in Bihar. The attacker was identified as Munna Rae. The state Government claimed that he had been associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. But this was denied by the BJP. Governor Buta Singh has ordered a probe into the attack and also directed officials to provide full security to politicians campaigning for Assembly polls in the state.



BJP state president Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that the RJD-Congress combine has hatched what he called a “conspiracy to kill another BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.”



Meanwhile, it has become clear that Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party is sticking to its decision to remain equi-distant from the RJD as well as the BJP. Paswan’s demand for a Muslim Chief Minister for Bihar has got unequivocal support from CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan. The two parties are fighting the Assembly elections unitedly.



A kidnapped school boy has become the symbol of misrule in the state in the election campaign. School boys have held several demonstrations in Patna demanding effective action by the State Government to rescue Gaurav Kumar, or Golu, who had been kidnapped on September 20. Patna High Court has asked the State police to produce the kidnapped school boy at the earliest.