THE STATES

Living on borrowed time

PURNIMA S. TRIPATHI

Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri's refusal to convene a special session of the State Assembly gives the beleaguered Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh a respite.

SUBIR ROY

Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri and Chief Minister Mayawati with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Minister Jagmohan at a function in Lucknow.

STATISTICS, it is said, can testify for either side. This is particularly true in the case of Uttar Pradesh, which has been grappling with political uncertainty for a long time. The results of the Legislative Council byelection held on November 18 show that the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government secure only 193 votes in a House of 403 and has been reduced to a minority. The Opposition parties have demanded that the government prove its majority on the floor of the House. They also requested Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri to convene a special session of the Assembly because the next session was not due before March 2003. However, the Mayawati government, in a desperate attempt to cling to power, claimed that since the Opposition-sponsored candidate secured only 183 votes, the Samajwadi Party's (S.P.) claim of having the support of 204 legislators was wrong. Statistically speaking, both the arguments are correct.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led Central government has become a willing accomplice in the BSP-BJP's attempts to continue in power. On November 28, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani gave a clean chit to the Governor saying that he had committed "no wrong so far and conducted himself as per the best traditions of the Constitution". He turned down the Opposition's demand for a Central directive to the Governor to convene a special session of the Assembly. Advani was replying to a special discussion on the political developments in Uttar Pradesh, initiated by Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on November 26. Advani, quoting from the Surpreme Court judgment in the S.R. Bommai case, said: "As per my understanding of the Constitution and pronouncements of the Supreme Court, the Centre has no power to give any directive to the Governor." He also brushed aside the Opposition criticism that the Governor was being "partisan" in protecting the BSP-BJP coalition government. Quoting from the S.R. Bommai judgment, Advani said the Governor should be left free to deal with the situation as per his best judgment, keeping in view the Constitution and the conventions of the parliamentary system. The near-empty House, both on the day the discussion began and when Advani gave his reply, indicated a sense of indifference among MPs from outside Uttar Pradesh. Dissatisfied with Advani's reply the Opposition staged a walkout.

Opposition members protested against the "misuse of power" by the Centre and accused it of "pressuring" the Governor not to convene the Assembly. Mulayam Singh Yadav said that his party, along with the Congress(I) and other parties supporting him on the issue, had submitted a list of 204 MLAs to the Governor to prove that the Mayawati government was in a minority. The list included 23 members of the Congress(I), whose support the party had not denied so far, he said.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Somnath Chatterjee and Congress(I) leader Priya Ranjan Das Munshi said that Advani had deliberately avoided saying what the Governor should do at a time when the State was facing a political crisis. Chatterjee asked why another opportunity was not being given to the MLAs for a trial of strength on the floor of the Assembly. Advani, again citing the Bommai judgment and the Sarkaria Commission report on Centre-State relations, said a floor test was only one of the considerations that the Governor should keep in mind and his decision depended on the prevailing situation. Advani also expressed concern over the criticism of the office of the Governor, who had "committed no wrong so far".

Initiating the discussion, Mulayam Singh Yadav said the State government had violated all democratic norms and unleashed a ruthless wave of "repression" against political activists who dared to raise their voice against it, particularly independent MLAs who had withdrawn support to it. He said the State government was "misusing" the Gangster Act to oppress political leaders and people's representatives. Demanding the recall of the Governor for his "unconstitutional" stand in protecting the Mayawati government, Mulayam Singh Yadav said he had ensured that the BSP-BJP government did not have to prove its majority. He said the Governor had no regard for the Bommai judgment, which had clearly stipulated that the question whether a government enjoyed a majority should be decided on the floor of the House.

Somnath Chatterjee said that the quality of the country's politics had touched the nadir because of opportunistic alliances forged to grab power. He said the desperate machinations by those in power in Uttar Pradesh had reduced the entire political community to a laughing stock. He said if Indian democracy was to be saved, the Governor "should start thinking for himself and not be guided by his bosses in the RSS". He rued the fact that "after textbooks, Raj Bhavans have also been saffronised".

Shriprakash Jaiswal of the Congress(I) said that the Governor must maintain the dignity of his constitutional position by convening the Assembly.

IN October, eight independent MLAs, led by Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya of Kunda, Pratapgarh, withdrew their support to the Mayawati government. They were followed by 12 BJP MLAs (10 of them are facing the prospect of disqualification now) who met the Governor to demand that the Assembly be convened because they had "lost faith" in the government. Two MLAs, one from BSP and the other from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, too raised the banner of revolt. Now both are facing the prospect of disqualification. However, the Governor insisted that there was no need for a special session since nobody had given him in writing about withdrawal of support.

However, after the Legislative Council byelection, it was clear that the government no longer had a majority. Although the ruling coalition's nominee emerged victorious over Yashwant Singh of the Lok Janshakti, by 11 votes, it was significant that Yashwant Singh polled 183 votes, as the 23 members of the Congress(I) had boycotted the election. As the Congress(I) has since declared that it will not support a "communal" government in case of a trial of strength on the floor of the House, these 23 votes should go to the Opposition parties, thereby reducing the government to a minority.

In all the recent political developments, it is the BJP that has suffered a big setback. Party leaders are worried about the resentment brewing in the party about the continuance of the coalition. They fear that this resentment may cost the party dearly. Former State BJP president Kalraj Mishra said that when the coalition government was formed it was thought it would be good for the State, for the people and for the party. Obviously, he said, this was not happening. "It is true there is resentment within the party against the government. It is also true that if the government is in trouble it is because of us. Now our only worry is to think of saving the party," Mishra said. BJP Legislature Party leader Lalji Tandon too admitted that the resentment in the party was responsible for the cross-voting in the Council byelection. "We will have to see how to tackle this problem without further damaging the party," he said.

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