Laloo's nemesis

The supreme court verdict on the Bihar assembly dissolution is the last in a series of reversals for Laloo Prasad Yadav

Ranjit Bhushan Delhi

Bihar unfortunately continues to call attention to its state of un-well- being. Take a look at the assembly elections. Till the first round of voting took place on October 18, it was not clear whether the state would go to polls or not. Would the supreme court (SC) respond favourably to the petition demanding the proclamation of president's rule and dissolution of the assembly illegal, and revive the house? That happening would jeopardise the poll process. There was trepidation in political circles, because the SC during the hearing of the case seemed unfavourably disposed towards the government and the manner in which Bihar was put under president's rule.

On October 7, a five-member constitutional bench of the apex court ruled the May 23 dissolution of the Bihar assembly as unconstitutional. The 243-member house was placed under suspended animation on March 7 to allegedly give an opportunity to political parties to explore the possibility of forming a government. The central government later recommended the dissolution of the state assembly on May 22, following a report from the governor, Buta Singh, that large-scale horse trading was expected as none of the parties had the desired numbers. In a classic cloak-and-dagger exhibition, president APJ Abdul Kalam, then on Moscow on a state visit, had to give his assent late in the night, leading to speculation that Nitish Kumar, Janata Dal (United), had come close to assemble his numbers and the dissolution was an attempt to thwart the possibility of his forming government.

While the SC bench allowed the conduct of the elections, their judgment of October 7 terming the proclamation "unconstitutional" lent a new spin to the state's turbulent politics and the coalition-run centre. The detailed SC judgment, when made public, could determine the fortunes of the key players in this murky political drama that preceded the dissolution of the assembly.

The SC order has the implications that could not really be fathomed till the small print of the final judgment is read carefully. Last heard, the apex court is trying to put together the final judgment and also find reasons for its tough order. There are suggestions that the final judgment could come only after all the four phases of the polls have taken place. There is a belief in judicial circles that the court would not like to do anything that muddies the poll process.

The judges may be careful about how their order impacts the rest of the poll process, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has been upbeat since the courts trashed the proclamation announcing the dissolution of the assembly. They have claimed that their stand that they did not get a chance to form the government in Patna stands vindicated. Congress sources claim that the BJP leadership was so confident that the old assembly would be restored that they had made plans to stake claims to form the government in Bihar. They were confident that they would be able to display their strength to the governor. But, the decision of the SC to allow the poll process to continue upset their calculations.