Pressure is mounting on the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government to dismiss the Rabri Devi government in Bihar. The state unit of the Samata Party, a key ally, has set October 15 as the deadline, while senior BJP leaders yesterday said it was high time the Centre acted on Bihar.
Having promised dismissal of the Rabri Devi government "within a week" of assuming office, senior BJP-Samata leaders are under intense pressure from state leaders. A meeting between President K R Narayanan and Union home minister L K Advani on Sunday is considered significant in this context.
State governor S S Bhandari has more than once informed the Centre that the situation warrants imposition of President's rule. However, the government has been held back by the fact that it does not have majority in the Rajya Sabha, which would also have to ratify the proclamation. Samata Party leaders have suggested a way out. By dismissing the Rabri Devi government now and immediately announcing assembly elections along with four other states in November-December, there would be little time for the opposition to protest. And holding elections before the winter session of Parliament would also do away with the need to have the proclamation ratified by Parliament.
Senior BJP leader K L Sharma yesterday said it was high time the Centre acted. This is yet another indication of the pressure from the party's state leaders, who have listed several grounds why the Rabri Devi government needs to be dismissed. The recent CBI raid on the chief minister's residence is one such.
Going by their recent utterances, BJP leaders appear to be preparing the ground for central intervention. It is being said that the situation in Bihar is vastly different from that in Tamil Nadu, where ally Jayalalitha has been demanding the dismissal of the DMK government. Some months ago, this distinction was not being made. In fact, the government's lack of enthusiasm on Bihar was being explained by saying that Jayalalitha would want the same treatment to be meted out to the DMK government, for which no strong ground existed.
