ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Jaya demands Article 356 for TN, but rules out withdrawal of support

The All India Anna DMK, a senior ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre, today kept up the pressure on the Centre by demanding the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu first under Article 356 before invoking it on Bihar as the conditions in Tamil Nadu were far more worse than in Bihar.

The party, however, said it would continue to support the Vajpayee government even while keeping its option on review of support open.

A resolution adopted at the party's executive and later briefed to reporters by party general secretary J Jayalalitha said Tamil Nadu was a fit case for invoking Article 356 as there was a breakdown of law and order and the government could not be carried on as per the provisions of the Constitution.

Carrying her fight further towards the BJP ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra, she said the party stood for invoking Article 356 wherever there was breakdown of law and order and the government could not be carried on as per constitutional provisions.

The Opposition parties have been alleging that the law and order situation in these states was worse than that in Bihar.

Jayalalitha said it was significant that President K R Narayanan was yet to take a decision on the Centre's recommendation for invoking Article 356 in Bihar. The President's mind was also not known, she added.

After initial hesitation, Jayalalitha endorsed what the party representative and Union Law Minister M Thambidurai and Minister for Personnel M R Janardhanam had "said or reported to have said" in Delhi and at the cabinet meeting while opposing the move.

Thambidurai, while pleading for invoking Article 356 in Tamil Nadu first, had reportedly told the cabinet that his party would not be able to vote in Parliament ratifying presidential proclamation in respect of Bihar. Janardhanam had reportedly said the decision to recommend President's rule in Bihar was "hasty and a waste".

Jayalalitha initially stated that what transpired at the cabinet meeting should not be divulged.

She said her party would formulate its stand only after the President acted on the Centre's recommendation.

Asked whether she thought she should have been consulted before recommending President's rule in Bihar, she said her party believed it should have been consulted on many important decisions.

To a question whether the Centre could dismiss the Tamil Nadu government without a formal report from the state governor, Jayalalitha said there had been instances of state governments getting dismissed in the past without the recommendation of the state governor.

The Centre had enough power to dismiss a state government even after the Supreme Court judgment in the S R Bommai case, she added.

Asked whether she thought her demand for dismissal of the DMK government was consistently being ignored by the Centre and if it required review of her party's support to the Centre, Jayalalitha said review (of support) was a continuing process and the party would review the support whenever it deemed fit.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report