Is Bengal heading towards
President's rule?
Subhrangsu Gupta from Kolkata
Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi
JP Nadda
In the wake of West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee's virulent tirade
against the Narendra
Modi government and
the Trinamool Congress
nation-wide stir against the NRC,
CAA, NRP, etc, BJP leaders, visiting
Kolkata , often talk about the
application of Article 356 and
imposition of President's rule on
West Bengal.
BJP working president JP Nadda
alleged that Mamata was
behaving in an unruly manner,
violating all the norms and
decency shown to a constitutional
head of a democratic set-up
and, accordingly, she herself
had been inviting President'
rule in the state.
Kailash Vijay Bargia
Mukul Roy and Dilip Ghosh
Kailash Vijay Bargia, the party's
general secretary-in-charge, West
Bengal, asserted that the
imposition of President's rule was
imminent if "Didi" did not mend
her ways forthwith.
TMC deserter and Sarada chit
fund scam accused Mukul Roy,
now in the BJP, and the party's
state president Dilip Ghosh
demanded immediate application
of Article 356 and the imposition
of President's rule in Bengal in
the interest of the people.
They alleged that Mamata had
been acting like a dictator by
violating all norms associated
with a democratic head of
government.
Mamata says she is aware that
a conspiracy has been hatched by the Modi government at the
behest of Home Minister Amit
Shah for dissolving the
democratically elected Bengal
Assembly since the TMC is
against all the wrong doings of
the BJP.
Amit Shah
“However, we will not bow
down. Let Amit Shah dare impose
President's rule in Bengal and the
state people will rightly respond,”
the Chief Minister says.
BJP leaders and their fellow
cadres in the state are now
spreading the information that
the Prime Minister and the Home
Minister have finally agreed on
the application of Article 356 and
imposition of President's rule in
Bengal. Accordingly, they are
waiting for the suitable
opportunity. Governor Jagdeep
Dhankar is also regularly sending
reports to the Home Minister in
this regard.
Dhankar, an RSS activist, is also
often hinting that Raj Bhavan has not been sitting idle. “We are
watching and noting down all the
misdeeds and undemocratic
action of the Chief Minister and
her government,” he stated.
Modi and Amit Shah visited
the state more than once
for campaigning for the
NRC, CAA and NRP. They
also put forward their
explanation stating that
these would benefit
millions of homeless
minorities in the country
and abroad, particularly
those from Pakistan,
Afghanistan and
Bangladesh.
The BJP has intensified its
activities in Bengal through
campaign and propaganda
against Mamata and other antiBJP parties for gaining public
support in their favour.
Modi and Amit Shah visited the
state more than once for
campaigning for the NRC, CAA
and NRP. They also put forward
their explanation stating that
these would benefit millions of
homeless minorities in the
country and abroad, particularly
those from Pakistan, Afghanistan
and Bangladesh.
The BJP has a political agenda
of capturing power in Bengal
which Amit Shah has also spelt
out. He said they "were firm in
winning at least 196 of 245 seats
in the 2021 Assembly polls in the
state. The votes of the displaced
Hindu minorities will help the
party ensure the victory.”
The BJP now has acquired the
strength both in the Lok Sabha
and the Rajya Sabha for passing a
resolution for the imposition of
President's rule in Bengal. But it is
doubtful if the BJP will move in
this direction because of the
prevailing virulent anti-BJP wave
in every state.
As it is, Modi's popularity has
also eroded to a large extent by
this time following his several
wrong decisions. His advisers
convinced him that nowadays
Article 356 could not be used as a
weapon against the enemy parties
so easily. After the Supreme
Court's historic judgment in the
SR Bommai vs Union government
in 1994, the use of Article 356 is
much restricted.
Earlier, Article 356 had been
frequently used as weapon by the
ruling party against the opposition for teaching them a
lesson. During 1966 and 1977,
Indira Gandhi used Article 356 for
imposing President's rule in
several states, altogether 39
times. The Janata Party which
came to power after the
Emergency also promulgated
President's rule in nine Congressruled states.
Modi's popularity has also
eroded to a large extent by
this time following his
several wrong decisions.
His advisers convinced him
that nowadays Article 356
could not be used as a
weapon against the enemy
parties so easily. After the
Supreme Court's historic
judgment in the SR
Bommai vs Union
government in 1994, the
use of Article 356 was
much restricted.
After the adoption of the
Constitution in 1950, President's
rule was first imposed on June 20,
1951, in Punjab. On July 31, 1959,
it was then imposed in Kerala which dissolved the first elected
CPM government led by E M S
Namoodiripad.
Afterwards President's rule had
been imposed on different
occasions mostly on political
consideration in the states like
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Gujarat, Manipur,
Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. In
Maharashtra, President's rule was
imposed for the third time on
November 12, 2019.
So, there is the least possibility
of imposition of President's rule
again in West Bengal.