Jharkhand : BJP takes over: setback for UPA,Indian Politics, News Analysis, India News Online

BJP’s Arjun Munda has taken over as Chief Minister in Jharkhand at the head of a BJP-JDU coalition supported by Independents, ending the sorry state of affairs sparked off by Governor Sibtey Razi’s decision to make Shibu Soren as Chief Minister, even when he did not enjoy majority support. The Centre virtually forced Shibu Soren to quit as Chief Minister after the vote of confidence in the State Assembly could not go through on Friday, March 11, despite the directive of the Supreme Court. Hours after the ruling JMM-Congress coalition in Jharkhand defied the Supreme Court and did not allow the trust vote in the Assembly, an upset Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, CCPA. The committee, which met late on Friday evening, directed the Governor to issue marching orders to Shibu Soren and to give Arjun Munda of the BJP a chance to form the government. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil conveyed the tough decision of the CCPA to the state Governor.

Chief Minister Shibu Soren was stunned by Governor Razi’s late night request that he step down and did not comply with the demand initially. He wanted to talk to the UPA leadership in Delhi to find out if this was the only option left. He wanted to know if he could prolong his tenure. But the tactic did not work and he was clearly told that there was no other go but to quit.

Speaker pro tem does not hold floor test

Earlier in the day on March 11, Speaker pro-tem Pradip Balmuchi cited Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s criticism of the judicial encroachment on legislature matters for defying the Supreme Court order to hold the floor test. He decided to convene the House again on March 15, the day earlier fixed by Governor Sibtey Razi.

It was clear when the Jharkhand Assembly met on Friday morning that the Treasury Benches were in a minority. While the BJP-JD(U) head count stood at a rock steady 41, the ruling coalition had only 39 MLAs including the pro-tem Speaker on its side.

A farce was later played out with the treasury benches questioning the pro tem Speaker’s competence to hold the floor test and repeated adjournment of the House in the midst of noisy scenes.

In Delhi, after the meeting of the CCPA, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that as Shibu Soren has failed to prove his majority, constitutional propriety demanded that the incumbent Government should resign and allow the formation of another government. He said, ‘The Prime Minister and his government are determined to see that the Constitution is followed in letter and in spirit. Prior to the CCPA meeting, the Prime Minister met top Left leaders including CPIM’s Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Prakash Karat and informed them of the constitutional dead-lock in Jharkhand and the Centre’s move to defuse the situation.

Somnath Chatterjee calls Speakers meeting

In a related development, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called a meeting of Presiding Officers of State Assemblies on March 20, to discuss the relations among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

He is reported to be upset at the Centre not going ahead with the Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court. Earlier on March 10, there was a near consensus among the political parties, apart from the BJP, that the Government should make a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution to seek its view on the issue of separation of powers of the Judiciary and the Legislature. Chatterjee said, this was needed to maintain the fine constitutional balance for effective democratic functioning of the state. The provocation was the Supreme Court order in the Jharkhand case. Most political parties including some NDA partners felt that the Court had gone beyond its jurisdiction and encroached upon that of the Jharkhand Legislature by directing it to take a trust vote on a particular date, record the proceedings and report back to the Court. Barring the BJP, whose leaders walked out of the meeting, all parties said that the Speaker should make a statement on the crucial issue related to constitutional jurisdiction.

Congress goes back upon Presidential Reference proposal

However, the government later went back upon the proposal for a Presidential Reference. At an informal meeting of senior ministers, both Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj opposed any proposal or suggestion that would smack of a confrontation with the judiciary. The government later decided not to go ahead with the move for a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court, at least for the time being.

Morale booster for BJP

Developments in Jharkhand have come as a big morale booster for the BJP. Emerging victorious from the Jharkhand case after a string of electoral failures and inner party squabbles, BJP leaders finally have something to cheer about. The party has made up the loss of Goa with the gain of Jharkhand in its kitty. More importantly, the developments, in the BJP leaders’ view, have done incalculable damage to the image of the Congress and the UPA.

Political analysts say that the BJP will step up attacks on the Congress and the UPA in the coming months. Encouraged by what they think to be a victory in Jharkhand and the UPA’s loss, the BJP is likely to be a lot more aggressive in the remaining part of the Budget Session of Parliament.

On its part, the Congress appears to have decided to cut its losses in Jharkhand and to make an effort to brazen it out in Parliament, when the matter comes up there. In Goa also, the Congress had followed a similar path when the state was placed under President’s Rule. The developments in Goa and Jharkhand will have their bearing on Bihar where the Congress and UPA will not now like to do anything which further dents their image. In view of this, the deadlock and President’s Rule in the state may continue for some more time, despite the keen desire of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, RJD, to form a new government in the state in alliance with whatever parties and groups they can get on their side.

Bihar : Centre’s dilemma over appointment of Advisors

Faced with conflicting demands from two UPA constituents, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Centre is going slow over the appointment of Advisors to the Governor of Bihar, which has been brought under President’s Rule. The State had to be placed under Central Rule as the Assembly elections held last month threw a split verdict with no party or alliance in a position to form a new Government. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav whose RJD ruled Bihar for 15 years till it was ousted in last month’s elections wants what he calls “understanding” advisors to be appointed. On the other hand, Steel Minister Rambilas Paswan has sought appointment of impartial advisors who can undo the mistakes of the erstwhile RJD regime. The BJP and the JDU want neutral advisors to be appointed who would not take sides among the various political combines vying for power in the state. Traditionally, advisors are selected from retired IAS officers; in some instances retired IPS officers have also been appointed advisors in the past.

With no advisors appointed, Governor Buta Singh has himself taken over the reins of the administration in his hands and is doing his best to tackle crime and establish the rule of law in the state, which he says, is his first priority. Holding a meeting of the Secretaries of 15 departments in Patna, Buta Singh directed the police administration to make every effort to check crime and establish the rule of law. The state police chief has been directed to fill the vacancies in the police department at the earliest. It may be recalled that Bihar has been plagued by kidnappings which was a major issue in the Assembly elections. Governor Buta Singh has also asked departments concerned with civic affairs and urban development to clean up the heaps of garbage piling up in different parts of the state capital and to tackle the mosquito menace.

On the first day of President’s Rule in Bihar, police raided the Gaya Jail on March 8 and recovered cash from the RJD MLA and former Minister Surendra Prasad Yadav. They also raided villages around Gaya and arrested a hardcore Maoist extremist Bhola Sharma who was carrying a reward of Rs.50,000/- on his head.

Both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rambilas Paswan met Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister separately to put forward their agenda for Bihar. At a meeting with Paswan, Manmohan Singh assured him that development and law and order would be the priority during President’s Rule in Bihar. Paswan later said that he is confident that a way to form a popular government in Bihar could be found in a couple of months.

After his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Lalu Yadav described it as a courtesy call, but there are indications that he expressed the hope that his interests and concerns would be taken into account during President’s Rule in Bihar.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal United has reacted to Paswan’s statement that it should come out of the NDA before formation of a joint front or coalition in Bihar could be considered. JDU leader Nitish Kumar has said that Paswan should first gather the support of 67 MLAs before asking JDU to quit the NDA. JDU has 55 members in the Bihar Assembly which has been kept under suspended animation and only with another 67 members, they can have a working majority in the House.

Opposition attacks UPA Government’s handling of Goa and Jharkhand

The Political developments in Goa and Jharkhand cast their shadow on the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Parliament with the Opposition criticising the Manmohan Singh Government’s handling of the situation in the two states. A determined Opposition hit the Government where it hurt the most, “it is a matter of grave concern and extremely worrisome the manner in which various issues are being handled,” leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh said. In the Lok Sabha, JDU president and former Defence Minister George Fernandes said, “our experiences in Goa and Jharkhand show how committed the Government is to the ballot and democracy.”

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani said that the Prime Minister is becoming invisible in the House.

Dr. Manmohan Singh reacted to the remark during his reply to the debate and said he should be judged by his work and not whether he is visible or invisible. In the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister punched holes in the previous NDA Government’s record in dealing with the Naxalite violence. He said the problem of Naxalites spread from 130 to 170 districts in the country during a period when the socalled second Sardar Patel was presiding over the country’s Home Ministry. The reference was to L.K. Advani who was the Home Minister in the Vajpayee Government and is generally known as “iron man” in BJP.

Congress troubles in Kerala continue

Former Kerala Chief Minister K. Karunakaran continues to defy the Congress leadership. Reacting to his son, K. Murlidharan’s suspension from the party, Karunakaran dared the High Command to take action against him. Murlidharan was suspended for defying the party directive to call off the Karunakaran faction’s Kozhikode rally.

But Karunakaran called a parallel rally in Kozhikode on Wednesday March, 9 and made it clear that he was not going down without a fight. He said that he would go ahead with two other rallies in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

Despite speculation that he would announce the formation of a new outfit, the senior leader stopped short of splitting the party. Observers say that Karunakaran has held back for now, as his group does not have enough numbers to effect a split and avoid the anti-defection law. Also, the Left has made it clear that it has no intention to entertain any splinter faction of the Congress. But observers say that the Congress is facing troubled times. Karunakaran may use the Panchayat elections three months away to test the waters for splitting the party.

Haryana Cabinet expanded

The Bhupinder Singh Hooda Ministry in Haryana has been expanded with the inclusion of ten Ministers of Cabinet rank. Among those who have been appointed Ministers are Satinder Mohan, son of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, and Surinder Singh, son of another former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. Observers say inclusion of the kin of former Chief Ministers is meant to pacify them as they are miffed at not becoming Chief Ministers themselves.

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