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UP Imbroglio
Centre mulls President’s rule
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16
The Centre is seriously mulling the option of imposing President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh following a close reading of the Supreme Court verdict on the disqualification of defected BSP MLAs, who had helped form the Mulayam Singh Yadav government three years ago.

The Centre has yet to take a public position on the apex court’s verdict but senior UPA ministers have held internal discussions and sought legal opinion on the finer points of the judgement and whether it makes a strong case for the dismissal of the Samajwadi Party-led government. The general consensus emerging from these parleys, it is learnt, is that the Supreme Court has established beyond doubt that the Mulayam Singh Yadav dispensation has no Constitutional basis. Consequently, the Centre is well within its right to dismiss the government and impose President’s rule.

For the record, the Centre maintains that the ball is in the UP Governor’s court and it is awaiting his report to take a final decision.

However, discussions on this front were initiated yesterday itself and the move gathered further momentum today as senior UPA ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil, P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony and Kapil Sibal, along with Congress president’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, mulled various legal and political options thrown up by this order. Sibal is learnt to have explained the apex court order which, according to him, makes it abundantly clear that the Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government is “illegal”. In such a situation, the Constitution empowers the Centre to invoke Article 356 and impose President’s rule.

In an effort to get the Marxists on board, Pranab Mukherjee met CPM leader Prakash Karat to explain the changed situation in the light of the Supreme Court verdict. Mr Karat, who has been opposing imposition of President’s rule in UP, reiterated that a government’s strength should be tested in the Assembly but also added that the CPM Politburo meeting tomorrow would take a final view on this matter. The DMK, the other UPA ally, which is also not in favour of using Article 356, was learnt to be veering around to the Centre’s view after it was contacted by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Mukherjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi also met this evening to weigh its options vis-a-vis Uttar Pradesh.

Besides considering the legal aspects, the Centre (read Congress) is also looking at the political consequences of imposing President’s rule. There is a section in the party, which is opposed to this move on the plea that it will only generate sympathy for Mulayam Singh Yadav.

On the other hand, there is also a view that the SP government is so discredited that it will be difficult for it to garner public support. The Congress wants the next Assembly polls to be conducted under the Central rule as it believes that Mulayam Singh Yadav uses the administrative machinery for electoral benefit.