PM persuading Bhandari to quit

Besides the President’sstrong views on the subject, Gujral’s need to act also stems from the fact that in his last days as Prime Minister he has come under attack for running away from the problem.

Highly placed sources in Government said today that “suggestions had been made in appropriate quarters” to persuade Bhandari to resign on his own volition keeping in mind the dignity of his office.

It is learnt that Romesh Bhandari sought to get the Centre to back a Special Leave Petition to challenge the order of the Allahabad High Court which dubbed his action as illegal and restored the status quo ante in Lucknow. The Prime Minister’s office “spurned the suggestion”. The UP Governor is believed to have given up the idea of a SLP when the Centre refused to play ball with him. The order was challenged by Loktantrik Congress leader Jagdambika Pal who was sworn in as Chief Minister.

The Prime Minister’s aides explain that his hands were tied till this morning with the courts seized of the matter. The Supreme Court’s directionsfor a floor test “have cleared the ground”. The second round of polling in UP has also been completed. Sources say that if the Governor does not volunteer to go, the Prime Minister may be left with no option but to recommend his transfer.

Gujral, who left the capital yesterday, was in touch with the President, on the telephone today. He has promised to call on Narayanan as soon as he returns to the capital on Wednesday.

Though there are two schools of thought about the powers of the President to remove a governor who continues in office at his pleasure, Narayanan is veering around to the view that he should abide by the advice of the Prime Minister. But he is awaiting word from Gujral on what the Government proposes to do about Bhandari.

Even as the Prime Minister is trying to get Bhandari to resign, it must be remembered that the controversial governor is like the proverbial cat with nine lives. This is not the first time since he took over as governor that he has been in the eye of a storm. He hasoutlived several Prime Ministers (P V Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H D Deve Gowda and now almost Gujral). Given the powerful friends he has, he is aware that the UF government will find it very difficult to sack him.

Those who know him say that he will not resign because that would be an admission of folly. If sacked, he can at least be projected as the man who was given the marching orders for taking on the BJP. That way, he will at least gain a constituency amongst the Muslims which could stand him in good stead in the future.