Governor’s meet debates hung verdicts

Some of the questions on which the President sought answers were: * On the composition of a House being unclear, should the Governor/President wait for the leader of a party or formation to approach him with a claim to form the Government? If so, how long should he wait for such an initiative?

* Should the constitutional head himself take the initiative to consult parties on their being able to form the Government? If so, what should be the criteria for him to satisfy himself that the leader of any particular party/combination qualifies for an invitation to form the Government?

* As for the President/Governor addressing a sitting of the legislature on the commencement of the session after an election, Sharma sought to know the conference’s views on whether this practice should be applied in cases where the Government has been asked to seek a vote of confidence, or not. He was obviously referring to his addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament after the Atal Behari Vajpayee government took office but when a vote of confidence was still pending. Prime Minister I K Gujral, Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, Vice-President K R Narayanan and representatives of eight political parties participated in the conference, besides state Governors. Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav, also an invitee, did not turn up. Among those who attended the conference, only the BJP, the two Left parties and the Telugu Desam Party had something substantive to say. Congress chief Sitaram Kesri defended the concept of outside support to a government. Sunder Singh Bhandari of the BJP reiterated his party’s known position that the single largest party should be invited to form the Government and given 30 days’ time to prove its majority on the floor of the House. If it fails, then a pre-election coalition should be called and later a post-election formation. Fresh elections would become inevitable if none succeeded, he said.

In the states, he said, the advantage of Governor’s rule could be availed of in case no party was able to form the Government, but this should in no circumstances become a substitute for “popular role”. Governor’s rule should only be used to give parties time to come to an agreement, but it should not be extended beyond a year, Bhandari asserted.

The CPI(M) representative, Prakash Karat, was of the view that caretaker governments should not take any major policy decision or make major appointments.

He also said that the party or group which came to power should not take any major policy decision or make appointments before winning the vote of confidence. The speech of the President or the Governor, setting out the policies of the new government, should take place only after the confidence vote, Karat felt.

The Telugu Desam leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, wanted that first preference be given to a pre-electoral alliance of parties in government formation and later to a post-electoral alliance, with or without its constituents participating in the Government. The single largest party staking claim with the support of other parties and Independents, in his view, should be called only after these options had been exhausted.