Many steps yet to President’s Rule in Bihar

It will be a while before Bihar Governor Buta Singh can consider Ram Vilas Paswan’s demand for President Rule in the state.Singh will h...

It will be a while before Bihar Governor Buta Singh can consider Ram Vilas Paswan’s demand for President Rule in the state.

Singh will have to first call the largest parties to prove their majority before he can seek Centre’s help in breaking the deadlock by imposing President’s Rule.

He will have to abide by the Constitution and invite one party after another to form the government. It is only after all options have been tried that he can write to the President and the Ministry of Home Affairs explaining his efforts and providing reasons for the President’s Rule.

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‘‘The Governor, after exploring all avenues, will write to the President and the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking direction on President’s Rule,’’ said an official at the President’s Office.

This justification would have to be carried through to the Cabinet before it recommends to the President to put the state under the direct rule of the Centre, he added.

With a hung Assembly, political pundits expect six weeks of central governance in the state if the three-way deadlock is not broken by a post-poll realignment of political parties.

And that realignment seems far-fetched given Paswan’s reiteration that he will neither support the RJD or BJP-JD (U) combine.

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The LJP leader, who holds the key to government formation with 28 MLAs, has written to Buta Singh that President’s Rule should be the ‘last option’.

But given his rigidity, Laloo Prasad Yadav’s reluctance to yield control and Paswan’s difficulty in joining hands with BJP, the central rule could be the only option unless Congress President Sonia Gandhi gets them together.