The Hindu : Gujarat Cong. for President's rule

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 21, 2002

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Gujarat Cong. for President's rule

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR JULY 20. The Gujarat pradesh congress committee has described as "unjust and improper'' the decision of the Governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari, to allow the Narendra Modi Ministry to continue as caretaker government and has demanded the immediate imposition of President's rule in the State to ensure free and fair elections.

A five-member GPCC delegation, led by its former president, Amarsinh Chaudhary, called on Mr. Bhandari at the Raj Bhavan here today and raised the issue of large-scale transfer of Government employees just before the dissolution of the Assembly, with him. The delegation alleged that the changes had been made with a view "to facilitate the ruling BJP in the coming elections".

In a memorandum, the party said the Modi administration had put its "yes-men'' at vital positions to misuse the provisions of the rules framed by the Election Commission under which the returning officers had been empowered to reject a nomination paper if he finds any information provided by the candidate "unsatisfactory.''

Pointing out that Gujarat might be the first State going to the polls to attract action under the new rules, the memorandum expressed the apprehension that the Modi administration might try to reject the nominations of important Congress candidates to ensure an easy passage. The transfers could be cancelled only if President's rule was imposed, it said adding that with the dissolution of the Assembly, Mr. Modi had lost the confidence of the House and that there was no justification for his continuation.

Drawing a parallel between the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, it recalled the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani's suggestion for the imposition of President's rule in J and K for the sake of a free and fair election. The same argument holds ground for the imposition of President's rule in Gujarat as well as sporadic incidents of violence was still continuing in the State, it said.

Later talking to presspersons, the GPCC president, Shankarsinh Waghela, said his party would wait for the Governor's decision on their demands before contemplating the next step. He, however, ruled out the possibility of approaching a court of law on the issue.

The steering committee of the party and other senior leaders would meet in Gandhinagar on Monday in the presence of the AICC secretary in-charge of Gujarat affairs, Kamal Nath, and the political adviser to the party president, Ahmed Patel, to finalise the party's election strategy.

Meanwhile, Mr. Modi told presspersons in Rajkot today that the decision to dissolve the Assembly was taken long back but that he had waited for the peaceful completion of the `rath yatra' and the Presidential elections before taking the step.

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