Commentary/T V R Shenoy

Why is Shankersinh Vaghela shying away from an election?

Bad governments,' runs the adage, 'are elected by good citizens who don't vote.' Well, India has come up with a refinement of that message -- 'Bad governments exist in spite of good citizens voting.'

Actually, I am not referring to the United Front. True, it doesn't have a mandate to rule, but at least it isn't a cobbled-up mix of defectors.

You can't say that of others. Such as the great Nadendla Bhaskara Rao (remember him?) who tried to unseat N T Rama Rao in 1984 with Congress help. Or the confused lot in Rajasthan today who tried to upset Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Or, of course, Shankersinh Vaghela, now chief minister of Gujarat by default.

Unseating the Suresh Mehta ministry was Vaghela's second attempt at upsetting the BJP in Gandhinagar. He tried the same tactics in 1995, when the then chief minister, Keshubhai Patel, was in the United States. (This, incidentally, is a running theme for all quislings -- NTR and Shekhawat too were abroad when the traitors struck. What was that about rats playing when the cat is away?)

In some ways, Vaghela's attempt at the chief minister's chair is worse than that of N Bhaskara Rao or the dissidents in Jaipur. They were duly elected MLAs. Vaghela wasn't elected by anybody.

Quite the contrary. Shankersinh Vaghela was rejected by the people when his naked power-lust was revealed. Not once, mind you, but twice.

As noted above, Vaghela's first, aborted, coup d'etat was staged in 1995, as he flew off to Khajuraho (in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh). The first opportunity for the Gujarati voter to express an opinion came a few months later, in the general election of 1996.

Vaghela was granted a BJP ticket. Despite the protection of the party colours-- his own unmatched fund-raising talents too! -- he lost. (This at a time when BJP candidates won 15 of the state's 26 Lok Sabha seats.)

It was after his public rebuff that the self-proclaimed 'Lion of Gujarat' struck like a rat in the night. His henchmen created enough chaos for a helpful Governor Krishna Pal Singh to put the assembly in suspended animation.

At this point, the voters got another chance to pass judgement on Vaghela and his moth-eaten crew. A by-election was held for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. The BJP, the Congress, and Vaghela put up candidates.

Gandhinagar is no ordinary constituency. In 1989, Vaghela won the seat as a BJP candidate. In 1991, it was won by L K Advani, and in 1996 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (The by-election was caused when the latter opted to vacate it for Lucknow.)

The Congress, for one, appreciated the importance of the contest. It put up no less than Rajesh Khanna, the superstar of yore.

The voters's verdict was a smashing mandate for the BJP, with Vijay Patel winning by 60,000 votes. Vaghela's man lost his deposit.

By-elections were being held simultaneously to some seats in the Gujarat assembly. Here too, Shankersinh Vaghela's hand-picked nominees drew a blank.

It was after this multiple rejection that the governor in his wisdom administered the oath of office to Vaghela. Is it really surprising, then, that the chief minister is shying away from elections just now?

However, he doesn't have a choice. The Constitution demands that he become a legislator within six months of assuming office -- April 23 in this case.

The unelected chief minister has a perfect excuse to delay. 'I have to pay attention to the administration just now. Especially because of the Budget session starting on February 19.'

Very laudable I am sure. But does he posses the legitimacy to steer a Budget through a House in which his party doesn't have a majority, and of which he himself isn't a member?

The Constitutional provision to induct non-members into a ministry was meant for a specific purpose. As the debates in the Constituent Assembly clarify, the aim was to ease the entry of technocrats, giving them six months to get used to legislative duties. It was not meant as a backdoor entry to a chief minister or prime minister!

True to form, misuse of the provision began with the Congress. C Rajagopalachari was 'nominated' to the Upper House of the erstwhile state of Madras to spike T Prakasam's forming a ministry with Communist support.

The Congress was also the first to choose a non-MP as prime minister. That dubious honour goes to Narasimha Rao.

When the BJP benches twitted the United Front about choosing a leader by passing the hat after the general election, a Congressman leapt to the defence. Before television cameras, Rajesh Pilot declared that no party chose leaders before the polls.

This was idiocy pure and simple. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was his party's nominee. And Pilot's own party has always announced its candidate for prime minister well in advance (Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Rao respectively, in case Pilot forgot).

People deserve to know who shall lead a government. Perhaps we should amend the Constitution to insist that the head of government, prime minister or chief minister, must be a sitting legislator in the Lower House. Or, at least, that he must win election in, say, 45 days, instead of sitting unfazed for six months.