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Bihar governor may turn down both claims

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Bihar governor Vinod Pande is disinclined to invite either the National Democratic alliance or the RJD-led combine to form a government in the state. This is because he has "appraised " that neither of the two rival contenders has the requisite number on its side.

According to top officials in the Union ministry of home affairs, Pande has concluded several exercises to determine which of the two main players can form a stable government. The governor has been utilising "his own channels of information" to determine which party can successfully prove its majority on the floor of the house after fulfilling certain "basic criteria", the officials pointed out.

Both the RJD-led combine of 'secular' parties spearheaded by Laloo Prasad Yadav and leaders of the NDA have been asserting that they have the numbers, but governor Pande is sceptical.

"The governor will soon ask the two contenders to furnish letters of support from legislators and only then will he take a decision on who makes the grade," the officials pointed out. "But as of now, he is convinced that neither can furnish the letters of support from the legislators and that is where the matter is stuck," they contended.

They indicated that if neither the RJD-led alliance nor the NDA was able to furnish the letters from legislators, "the governor's only option would be to keep the state assembly in suspended animation after recommending President's rule in Bihar."

This is exactly the situation which Laloo and the 'secular' parties dread, which is why the RJD chief has been asserting that any failure on the part of the governor to invite his party and its allies would tantamount to a mockery of the Constitution.

Laloo this morning told the media that "Bihar ke log samvidhan ke upar hatyachar nahin sah sakte" ( the people of Bihar cannot tolerate an assault on the Constitution), when asked if the situation had reached a deadlock. He went on to assert that the Supreme Court ruling in the S R Bommai case was applicable in this scenario as well.

However, how far Laloo's argument holds good with the governor, was something his party colleagues do not relish speculating on. Thundered the former Union minister and RJD Lok Sabha MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: "The RJD is the single largest party in Bihar. Therefore, only it can form the government and there is no question of the governor calling anybody else to form the government."

But BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu said what mattered was how the Bihar governor decided on the situation in the state and not what others said.

"People can rant and rave, that scarcely has any bearing on the Bihar situation. The only thing of importance is, how the governor perceives the situation and accordingly takes a decision," Naidu pointed out.

Both the RJD-led alliance and the NDA are using every weapon in their respective armoury to get the better. Governor Pande has become the cynosure of the nation because his decision, whatever it maybe, will be all-important.

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