The Rediff Interview/Ramaswamy Venkataraman

'Nobody will be able to form a government and we are heading towards a general election'

Ramaswamy Venkataraman is the only living former President, so it is natural that people turn to him at times of Constitutional crisis, like the one confronting India today. Who would be a better guide to what the President should do in such a crisis than the man who presided over the demise of two governments and installed the first minority government in India's history. Unlike Shobha Warrier's earlier interviews with the former President, Venkataraman, 86, was a bit more open, but pessimistic when she met him at his Madras home for an exclusive interview for Rediff On The NeT.

The President has given the prime minister time till April 11 to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. Will it not result in horse trading, now that the Congress wants to form a government?

Constitutionally, the President has done the correct thing by asking the prime minister to take a vote of confidence in the House. A similar situation arose when the BJP withdrew support to V P Singh's government. When the BJP came and reported to me that they have withdrawn the support, I told them that the government has to prove its majority in the House. Since the majority has to be established in the House, it is appropriate that it is tested in the House by a motion of confidence or a motion of no-confidence.

Suppose the Deve Gowda government does not win the vote of confidence, can the President call the Congress to form a government? The Congress is only the second largest party in the Lok Sabha.

Normally, he should ask the parties according to their strength. And the BJP, according to its strength, stands above the Congress. But the President may not ask the BJP once again because he had already given them a chance and they have not been able to form a government. The next in order of strength is the Congress. He can ask the Congress to form a government.

But when the BJP government resigned after being unable to muster strength, the Congress itself said the President may call the United Front. Therefore, it could be interpreted that the Congress had itself declined on the earlier occasion. So, it rests completely with the discretion of the President whether to call the Congress or not.

If you had been in that position, would you have called the Congress?

See, it is difficult to say. I am not in touch with the parties. It all depends on various factors. If I felt that the Congress is in a position to form a viable government, then I might invite them. If I came to the conclusion that the Congress is not a position to form a viable government and like Charan Singh, they would accept the office and call for the dissolution of the House, I may not agree. It depends on the political situation at the Centre with which I am not personally familiar.

Will this kind of situation not lead to defections? No single party can form a government now and if anybody wants to prove its majority, it can do so only by accepting members from other parties.

Technically, defection is breaking away of a group from within the party. And, under the anti-defection law, it will not be defection if the defection is more than one third of the members of the party. Therefore, you cannot foresee what the situation could be.

You said the President may not call the BJP again because it could not form a government earlier. In your time, when V P Singh resigned, you called the Congress once again and when they declined, you called the BJP and then the Left Front. It came to Chandra Shekhar only when he came to you with the backing of the Congress. Why did you follow that pattern then?

At that time I felt they would be able to form a viable government, if given an opportunity. It is for them to decide whether they will be able to form a viable government or not. Even when I called, I knew that the Congress would not accept the offer, nor would the BJP accept the offer, nor would the Left Front accept the offer.

How did you assess the situation then?

When you are in actual touch with all the parties, the leaders and so on, then you know what the situation is. I was in touch with every one of the political parties. I was in touch with the leaders of the political parties, and they had a lot of confidence in me. So, they used to come and tell me what their position was. Therefore, I was able to take a decision then.

If the Deve Gowda government does not win the vote of confidence and if he then asks the President to dissolve the House, while other parties are staking their claim, does the President have to follow the prime minister's recommendation and dissolve the House?

It is a very important legal question. In England, for the last two hundred years, the advice of the prime minister to dissolve the House, whether in office or defeated in the House, has always been accepted by the Crown. In India, people argue that the President must examine whether any viable alternative could be formed. I am a man who was a text book President.

You must make a distinction between a Constitutional President and an executive President. If you are the executive President, you can decide whether you can dissolve the House or cannot dissolve the House. But if you are the Constitutional President, you must accept the advice of the prime minister whether he is in office or defeated.

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