King maker Paswan unmoved

March 01, 2005

The spectre of President's rule in Bihar refused to recede with Ram Vilas Paswan spurning the fence mending appeal of Lalu Prasad to help him retain power. Rebuffing the logic that all 'secular forces' need to join hands to keep BJP at bay, the LJP leader wrote to Governor Buta Singh declaring that he would not be part of any government formation move by RJD or BJP.

The rebuff from Paswan, who with 29 MLAs has emerged as the tie-breaker in the hung House, came despite clear indications that Lalu, desperate to hang on somehow, had asked Congress to lean on the LJP leader to come to his rescue.

Paswan told Singh that President's rule should be imposed only as a last resort, but his action may leave the Centre with no option but to take over the reins of the state. It has to be mindful of the constitutional requirement to get the budget for the state passed before March 31. In fact, the JD(U)-BJP combine with a tally of 96, promptly taking a cue from Paswan, told the governor that Paswan's stance made it clear that there was no way Lalu could marshal a majority and that there was no ground to invite him to explore the possibility of government formation.

The JD(U)-BJP combine, which on Sunday had stressed that it was the single-largest block and should be allowed the first sigh, has decided not to press any claim so long as the governor doesn't initiate government formation.

Many Congressmen would welcome a spell of Central rule since it would be a UPA rule by proxy in a state where they were reduced to a bit player. They might soon get busy trying to take friendly bureaucrats as advisors to Bihar if the drift towards President's rule continues.