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NDA team recommends President's rule

The National Democratic Alliance's fact-finding team, led by convenor and former defence minister George Fernandes will recommend President’s rule in Tamil Nadu, citing the collapse of law and order in the state.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Jana Krishnamurty, who has decided to remain in the TN capital for a few days, had earlier announced that he is in favour of President's rule in Tamil Nadu.

The three-member NDA team comprising Fernandes, BJP leader Vijaya Kumar Malhotra and Union minister of state Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, visited the Central Jail where former chief minister M Karunanidhi has been lodged "in a little cell", and Apollo Hospital where Union Minister Murasoli Maran is undergoing treatment in police custody.

“It is for the first time in the history of India that a state government unleashed its police force on Central ministers for no reason. More than 25,000 persons have been arrested in Tamil Nadu on a single day. There is an utter collapse of law and order in the state,” Malhotra told rediff.com.

“We are in favour of imposing the President’s rule in Tamil Nadu. Recalling the state governor is just not enough. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa should go for perpetuating anarchy in the state,” Malhotra said.

“Karunanidhi has been put in a 12 feet by 12 feet cramped cell with no facilities," Fernandes said soon after his meeting with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president.

He said the NDA team will submit a detailed report on the collapse of the law and order in Tamil Nadu soon after their return to Delhi on Sunday night.

“I have been to jail innumerable times, and I know how it feels. It is against all human and civil rights that a respected political leader like Karunanidhi has been jailed for no crime,” he said.

Fernandes said Karunanidhi briefed him about the events on Saturday night. “I will appraise the Prime Minister about my discussions with Karunanidhi," Fernandes said. "As the convenor of the NDA, I will also recommend suitable action against the Tamil Nadu government.”

For Fernandes, whose political enmity with Jayalalithaa dates back to when the latter left the Vajpayee coalition in 1999, the political turmoil in Tamil Nadu is an opportune time to strike.

Malhotra for his part said that the NDA report will pinpoint two arguments in favour of imposition of President's rule. Firstly, that the Jayalalithaa government violated constitutional norms by arresting two ministers of the Union cabinet. Since the Union ministers are appointed by the President under constitutional provisions, a state government does not have the right to carry out such arrests.

Secondly, that the state not only jailed the DMK president without an arrest warrant or summons, but also arrested hundreds of DMK partymen without any provocation.

“The state government has the duty to keep and abide by the law of the land. But when the government itself unleashes violence and indulges in human rights violations, it calls for the strictest of actions,” Malhotra said.

Fernandes for his part characterised the arrests as a planned operation. Referring to Union minister Murasoli Maran's recent hospitalisation for heart problems, Fernandes said that the minister "would not have been alive today had not his daughter, a doctor, treated him at the opportune time."

Though the NDA leaders, as also BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy, have called for the imposition of President's rule, it is unlikely that the Vajpayee government will invoke Article 356 in a hurry.

BJP leaders concede that the prime minister will need to consider several factors before dumping a duly elected state government. Firstly, it is just little over a month since Jayalalithaa won the Assembly elections with a massive majority. Secondly, it is not certain that President K R Narayanan, who has in the past shown a reluctance to oblige the Central government, will approve the order.

And thirdly, but most crucially, there is the Congress stance to consider. Imposition of President's rule is possible only after ratification by both Houses of Parliament, and the NDA does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. It will, therefore, need the support of the Congress -- which, though it has condemned the arrests, is an ally of Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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