Prasada indicates BJP motion needs to be defeated, CPM toes Mulayam lineOur Political Bureau
There were further signs yesterday that the government has persuaded the Congress and the Left parties to defuse the crisis caused by the BJPs pending motion in the Lok Sabha demanding the recall of UP Governor Romesh Bhandari - perhaps in exchange for a promise that Bhandari would be shifted, probably after the current session ends in May.
The Congress is holding its cards close to its chest but even its UP unit chief, Jitendra Prasada, who has been lobbying vigorously within his party for Bhandaris recall, has indicated to his associates that the motion should be defeated and the BJP isolated, although Bhandari needed to be shifted.
CPI leaders, including home minister Indrajit Gupta, have already taken the line that the motion must be unitedly defeated, although Bhandari ought to resign.
CPI(M) leaders do not even seem averse to Bhandari continuing. Politbureau member Prakash Karat yesterday said the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh was bad, but not any more so than in many other states.
Other party leaders concur with him and say that situation is not a creation of the presidents rule, rather a fallout of the BJPs misdeeds.
The CPI(M)s views on the law and order situation in UP seem more akin to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadavs views than the CPIs. Yadav and CPI(M) chief HKS Surjeet have strongly supported each other in recent years.
While the CPI national executive asked Union home minister Indrajit Gupta to visit the state and review the law and order situation in view of its deterioration, Yadav openly said the situation was not as bad as it was made out to be.
Both Yadav and Bhandari alluded to statistics of crime in the state and said that the situation was in fact improving during the Governors rule.
Karat and other politbureau member S Ramachandran Pillai say that for the CPI(M), the priority number at the moment is to defeat the BJPs motion. The BJPs insistence on the recall of the Governor has nothing to do with the law and order situation in the state. It is uncomfortable with the Governor because he did not invite the BJP to form the government, Pillai said.
While some of the CPI leaders, party secretary M Farooqui for instance, have openly demanded the removal of Bhandari, CPI(M) leaders say that the removal of the Governor is a different issue altogether and should not be linked to the BJPs motion.
CPI(M) deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Biplab Dasgupta questioned the way the Governor came out openly against the home minister and said that if he had some complaint he should have written to him instead.However, he added that the law and order situation in the state was bad due to a long legacy of misrule and could not be attributed to the last few months.
The CPI(M) had earlier criticised the appointment of Bhandari as the UP Governor because of his antipathy towards the Left parties.
