Narayanan, Sonia in the line of fire in Advani memoirs
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New Delhi: The late President K R Narayanan, who had a strained relationship with the A B Vajpayee government, has come in for criticism from BJP leader L K Advani for procedures adopted by him during Government formation in 1998 and during its fall a year later.
Along with that, Congress President Sonia Gandhi also came in for flak for her “seeds of conspiracy” to destabilise the Vajpayee government and later for the “big lie” spoken in the premises of Rashtrapati Bhavan claiming numbers in her favour to form the government. “The ten-day delay by President Narayanan in inviting Atalji to form the Government raised many eyebrows. He had set a new precedent concerning the appointment of Prime Minister -- namely, if an election to the Lok Sabha produced a hung house with no party or pre-election coalition having a majority, then only that person would be appointed Prime Minister who succeeds in convincing the President, through letters of support from allied parties, of his ability to secure the majority,” he writes in his memoirs.
Writing in his book ‘My Country My Life,’ he says in doing so, Narayanan “diverged” from the actions of his two illustrious predecessors R Venkataraman and Shankar Dayal Sharma who had invited the leader of the single largest party or pre-election coalition to form the government without ascertaining their ability to secure the confidence of the House.
Advani cites the famous Bommai judgement of Supreme Court in 1994 as well as the Sarkaria Commission’s report to say that the Governor is duty bound to invite the leader of the single largest party or pre-poll alliance to form the government. Whether or not he enjoys the confidence of the House should be decided on the floor of the Assembly and not in Raj Bhawan.
Advani then narrates the events during the days before the fall of the 13-month government of Vajpayee in early 1999. Alarmed by the “positive developments” of “bomb, bus and Budget,”a reference to Pokhran nuclear tests, Vajpayee’s bus ride to Lahore and the Union budget, the Congress party returned to its “old game” of destabilising non-Congress governments.
It raised a demand for dismissal of DMK government in Tamil Nadu, a demand which the Vajpayee government could not accede to, Advani says. “On April 14, 1999, the AIADMK withdrew support to the NDA government. Once again, President Narayanan played a key role in the heated political developments. He asked Prime Minister Vajpayee to seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha within three days,” he writes.
Advani says that inspite of the short time available, the NDA was able to garner the support of several smaller parties and the Government was wondering whether there was a valid reason for the country to the pushed to the brink of another mid-term election.
Finally, when the motion was put to vote, the Government lost by the smallest conceivable margin - one vote - 269 to 270. He describes it as a “morally and politically fraudulent, albeit technically valid vote.”
Along with that, Congress President Sonia Gandhi also came in for flak for her “seeds of conspiracy” to destabilise the Vajpayee government and later for the “big lie” spoken in the premises of Rashtrapati Bhavan claiming numbers in her favour to form the government. “The ten-day delay by President Narayanan in inviting Atalji to form the Government raised many eyebrows. He had set a new precedent concerning the appointment of Prime Minister -- namely, if an election to the Lok Sabha produced a hung house with no party or pre-election coalition having a majority, then only that person would be appointed Prime Minister who succeeds in convincing the President, through letters of support from allied parties, of his ability to secure the majority,” he writes in his memoirs.
Writing in his book ‘My Country My Life,’ he says in doing so, Narayanan “diverged” from the actions of his two illustrious predecessors R Venkataraman and Shankar Dayal Sharma who had invited the leader of the single largest party or pre-election coalition to form the government without ascertaining their ability to secure the confidence of the House.
Advani cites the famous Bommai judgement of Supreme Court in 1994 as well as the Sarkaria Commission’s report to say that the Governor is duty bound to invite the leader of the single largest party or pre-poll alliance to form the government. Whether or not he enjoys the confidence of the House should be decided on the floor of the Assembly and not in Raj Bhawan.
Advani then narrates the events during the days before the fall of the 13-month government of Vajpayee in early 1999. Alarmed by the “positive developments” of “bomb, bus and Budget,”a reference to Pokhran nuclear tests, Vajpayee’s bus ride to Lahore and the Union budget, the Congress party returned to its “old game” of destabilising non-Congress governments.
It raised a demand for dismissal of DMK government in Tamil Nadu, a demand which the Vajpayee government could not accede to, Advani says. “On April 14, 1999, the AIADMK withdrew support to the NDA government. Once again, President Narayanan played a key role in the heated political developments. He asked Prime Minister Vajpayee to seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha within three days,” he writes.
Advani says that inspite of the short time available, the NDA was able to garner the support of several smaller parties and the Government was wondering whether there was a valid reason for the country to the pushed to the brink of another mid-term election.
Finally, when the motion was put to vote, the Government lost by the smallest conceivable margin - one vote - 269 to 270. He describes it as a “morally and politically fraudulent, albeit technically valid vote.”
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