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Vajpayee, on fast, blasts governor

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday demanded the dismissal of Uttar Pradesh governor Romesh Bhandari for having "subverted and assaulted" the Constitution by not giving the Kalyan Singh government an opportunity to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly.

Vajpayee, who is on an indefinite fast in protest against the governor's "unconstitutional action", urged President K R Narayanan to "immediately invoke Article 156 of the Constitution" and sack Bhandari.

"To allow Bhandari to continue in office will be tantamount to continued defilement and denigration of the Constitution," he told a crowded press conference at his home in Delhi on his return from Lucknow. However, the BJP leader refrained from asking for the reinstallation of the Kalyan Singh government saying, "We will leave the matter to the President to decide."

Accusing the governor of hatching a conspiracy with the BJP's political adversaries, Vajpayee lambasted Bhandari for deciding the fate of the five-month-old Kalyan Singh governement in Raj Bhavan rather than on the floor of the House.

Vajpayee said the governor had never asked Kalyan Singh to resign. He straightaway dismissed the government at the behest of "political mentors". The dismissal had put a question mark on conducting a free and fair election in Uttar Pradesh where polling was held on Sunday for 33 constituencies, he said.

The new government's first act was to conduct a raid at the house of opponents of Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav. "Is this why the new government had been installed?"

The BJP leader said the President's intervention was necessary as the governor was not accountable to the caretaker government. Bhandari did not heed the reported advice of the President who had recommended caution and application of the by now well established principle that the strength of a government can be tested only on the floor of the assembly.

"The only guiding principle for the governor was the political interests of the anti-BJP parties who, in a desperate attempt to thwart our victory in this election have conspired to derail the constitutional rule of law. Romesh Bhandari today stands exposed, "though not for the first time," as one of the co-conspirators in this "treacherous assault on the very basis of our democratic polity."

Vajpayee said there should be a code of ethics for the governor and it had been demanded several times. In Gujarat the governor did the opposite. He said that even though the Constitution provided impeachment of several officials, the governor could not be impeached.

He said he had undertaken the fast as his "conscience did not compromise" with the UP developments. This was the time when a strong step was needed to protect democracy which had been "torn apart".

Asked how long would he continue with the fast he said, "So long as my physical strength permits me."

He said the governor's explanation that he acted as per the provisions of Article 164 of the Constitution raises more questions than it answers. "It is nothing short of seeking refuge in constitutionalism after violating the very essence of the Constitution of our republic. His action is a negation of both the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court judgment in the S R Bommai case. His violation of democratic norms and practices is a repudiation of the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations."

UNI

Elections '98

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