This time, President signs on dotted line

A Home Ministry team headed by Special Secretary R D Kapoor visited the site of the first carnage and submitted an eight-page report. In addition, the Ministry dashed off a letter to the Bihar Chief Secretary expressing concern at the deteriorating law and order situation. A detailed report was also sought fromthe State Government. Government sources said these steps served as the warning the President felt was missing last time.

The President’s other concern last year was the difficulty of securing parliamentary approval for the imposition of Article 356 after not only the Opposition but the BJP’s allies also criticised the move. This time, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar were put on the job of sounding out the allies before the Cabinet took a formal decision. Last year, the BJP just sprung the decision on its coalition partners, resulting in embarrassing criticism from the allies.

Having sewn up the allies, the Centre moved quickly when the Congress criticised the Rabri Devi Government yesterday. An emergency midnight meeting of the Cabinet was called and the decision taken before the main opposition party changed its mind.

Government spokesman Pramod Mahajan today referred to the “changed scenario” and said that no one should oppose the dismissal of the BiharGovernment. The fact is that last year, there was no immediate provocation for the imposition of President’s Rule in the State. This time, there were two massacres in a fortnight and in both cases, the victims were Dalits, making it impossible for even the Congress to continue supporting the Rabri Devi Government.

Before last night’s Cabinet meeting, Home Minister L K Advani also sounded out the President by calling on him personally. It was only after tying up all the loose ends that the Cabinet gave the green signal.

Its success in finally ousting the Yadav couple will give the BJP-Samata combine the respite it desperately needs. Both parties have been hit by a run of dissidence from restless cadres demanding Laloo’s head from the minute the Vajpayee Government assumed office. In fact, the Samata Party recently lost two senior members who quit in protest against what they saw as the Centre’s weakness.

The added benefit for the BJP is the consolidation of its shaky coalition on the eve of the budgetsession. Numbers are crucial for the passage of the many finance bills, any one of which can bring down the Government.

By fulfilling the Samata Party’s main demand, the BJP hopes to quieten yet another angry ally. It has already given sops to AIADMK chief Jayalalitha (whose cases were transferred out of the special courts) and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. Although the State Assembly has been placed under suspended animation, government sources said it would be dissolved and elections announced as soon as the administration is purged of Laloo loyalists.

Voices of dissent

RJD:
A defiant Laloo Prasad Yadav threatened to move the Supreme Court against the imposition of President’s Rule in Bihar. If polls are held, we’ll get a two-thirds majority, he said, and expose the BJP-Samata’s plans.

Chief Minister Rabri Devi:
There is no breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in the state. It’s also hypocritical. Dalits were killed by the upper-caste Ranabir Sena whichis primarily supported by the BJP. What about Gujarat?

CPM:
Undemocratic and unwarranted. Basu rang up Laloo to say the President had signed the “death warrant.”

Samajwadi Party:
Samata had promised dismissal in its poll manifesto and the BJP helped implement it. No government is safe.

CPI(ML):
The BJP’s backdoor entry, through President’s Rule, into Bihar would prove more fatal.