Dimapur, December 22 (MExN): The DAN government in Nagaland headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio got a boost with the Left Front, which is a major constituent of the Congress-led UPA Government in the Centre, writing to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi advising against any move to impose President’s Rule in the State. In separate letters addressed to Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson, the CPI (M), CPI and the All India Forward Block pointed out that with elections in Nagaland to be held in February 2008, imposition of President Rule just two months before the election will be wrongly construed and that the image of the Congress will also suffer.
CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat while pointing out to the political situation in Nagaland stated that there was “uncertainty about the future of the government” and that given the fact that Nagaland was scheduled to have Assembly Elections in February 2008 any move to impose President’s Rule at this stage will be inadvisable. “Given the sensitive security situation in the State, it would be better to be cautious”, Karat stated in his letter addressed to the Prime Minister and hoped that all these factors will be taken into account before the government takes a decision.
The CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan in his letter to Sonia Gandhi also advised against imposing President’s Rule and pointed out that with elections just two months away, “elections should decide who is to come to power”. “With your strong democratic sense I am sure you will not like such a thing to happen especially when Nagaland and the Northeastern States have severe problems of their own. Let us not add to the problems”, Bardhan stated pointing out that imposing President’s Rule just two months before the election will be “very wrongly construed”.
With regard to the no-trust vote on December 13 the CPI General Secretary stated that “the vote is being interpreted as a vote of no-confidence though according to the direction of the Speaker of the Assembly the votes of members who have defied the party whip issued earlier are not to be counted”. The CPI informed that this order was given by the Speaker in the year 2006 and was accepted by all the parties in the Assembly including the Congress.
The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) in its letter to the Prime Minister alleged that defections were being “corruptly engineered” to bring down a duly elected government and that the local Congress leaders were attempting to put pressure on the Centre to impose President’s Rule.
The AIFB cautioned going against constitutional propriety and stated that the Congress will not gain anything but only malign its image. “It will be construed that in view of ensuing elections in the State of Nagaland in February 2008, your party is trying to manipulate the elections by imposing President’s Rule”. The AIFB reminded that Article 356 cannot be invoked for superseding a duly constituted ministry and dissolving the assembly which has not been defeated on the floor of the house. “So imposition of President’s Rule in Nagaland will bring disgrace to your party and will disturb the tranquility of the State”, the AIFB stated and hoped that the Prime Minister would prevent this with his wisdom.
On the no trust vote and the Speaker’s role, the AIFB stated that the Nagaland Assembly was like any other assembly governed by the rules framed by the Speaker in exercise of his powers under the constitution of India and pointed out that one such rule was passed on August 21, 2006 and approved by the entire house stating that the vote of any member who disobeys the whip and votes in violation thereof shall not be counted. “So when on a recent motion of no confidence, nine member of the ruling party voted against the government, their votes were not counted in accordance with the aforesaid rule and thus the motion failed in accordance with law”, the AIFB stated while adding that having been frustrated by the failure of their move, local Congress leaders were now attempting to put pressure on the Centre for imposition of President’s Rule.
