Opinion Forty Years Ago, March 6, 1978: CPM for Janata

Indian Express front page on March 6, 1978

CPM for Janata
The CPM agreed to support the Janata in its effort to form a government in Assam. The CPM decision was conveyed to the Union steel and mines minister, Biju Patnaik, by A Bhattacharya, CPM central committee member from Assam. The Janata has got 53 seats in the 126-member Assam a, and its ally, the Plains Tribal Council of Assam, 4. The CPM has got 11 MLAs.

Congress Challenged
Nihar Ahmed, Janata MLA, alleged that the two Congresses, which paraded 149 MLAs at Raj Bhavan to prove their majority, had taken 11 independents under duress. In a letter to the governor, Ahmed said these independents were taken to a secret place from Raj Bhavan and were not allowed to go out. “This action is illegal and damaging to the democratic norms,” Ahmed said and demanded that these independent legislators be immediately released and the guilty punished. S M Joshi, president of the Maharashtra Janata Party, Uttamrao Patil, leader of the legislature party, also alleged that these independents had been “forced”.

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Arunachal Verdict
The Janata Party was one short of majority to retain power in the first elections to the 30-member assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. With the results of three seats yet to come in, the position was Janata 15, People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh 7 and Independents 5.

Israel Spars With US
A sharp dispute has arisen between the US and Israel on the issue of Israeli withdrawal from the west bank of Jordan and Gaza strip. This has stalled current US mediation in the negotiations between Egypt and Israel on a peace settlement. The dispute has heightened the strain between the Carter administration and the Begin government. Both the governments exchanged accusations on Israel’s persistence in the creation of civilian settlements in occupied areas.