Home ministry weakest link in Manmohan government

100 DAYS OF THE GOVERNMENT

If the new Manmohan Singh government has faced a real challenge of governance in its first 100 days, it is the home ministry that has borne the brunt of it.

Whether it is the complicated exercise of replacing governors, or managing the Arunachal Pradesh government or the fallout of the controversial decision of the Punjab government on water-sharing or the uprising in Manipur against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the home ministry has shown it could do with help in handling all these problems.

First the government did not know how to sack governors and replace them with its own men.

It dithered over new appointments giving the Opposition the chance to allege that it was playing politics with presidential appointments. When it took its courage in both its hands and finally did appoint new governors only four were initially changed.

In Arunachal Pradesh, a United Democratic Front government fell after Chief Minister Gegong Apang had bowed to constitutional diktat and downsized the ministry.

But Governor VC Pande first announced he was imposing the President's Rule and then said he had done so under duress and sought President APJ Abdul Kalam's permission to withdraw his recommendation. The incident has to be one of the most bizarre in gubernatorial history.

All the home ministry would do was to ensure the dissolution was still in place. The governor was not replaced.

Similarly, neither the Punjab governor, nor the intelligence agencies under the home ministry's control thought it fit to inform the Centre or the Prime Minister's Office that the Punjab government was passing a law that would rescind previous sovereign obligations.

The governor gave his assent to a Bill passed by the Assembly that was the thin edge of constitutional propriety. He continues in office.

But it was the complete and comprehensive mishandling of another sensitive north-eastern state, Manipur, that is the icing on the cake.

When a paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles raped and killed a young woman, the state blew up in flames and demanded that Assam Rifles be moved out of Manipur and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act "" that gives armed forces special rights "" be scrapped.

The home minister was scheduled to go to Manipur but he sent his junior instead. Meanwhile, the people's ire swelled as the Centre was seen as siding with the perpetrators of the crime.

The chief minister decided prudence was the better part of valour and in order to save his position, announced he was siding with the demand of the "militants" "" he lifted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from a part of Manipur.

The home minister's statement explaining this curious event took even senior ministers by surprise. The statement said the chief minister had acted contrary to advice given by the Centre.

Shivraj Patil went a step further: he told a delegation of Manipur MLAs that gradually the Armed Forces Special Powers Act would lifted from the entire state, leaving everyone mystified about what the real position of the government of India was.

In 100 days, it is the home ministry that has emerged as the weakest link in the Manmohan Singh government. How a Prime Minister can afford to have home ministry that takes so much time to react is the question.