Acting contrary to the advice of an impartial President, whose firmness and good sense were widely approved when he sent back the Gujral government's recommendation to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government in UP, would have done more,not less, damage to the credibility of the BJP-led government. Partisan political considerations having led the BJP into one huge blunder, the danger was that wounded pride would drive it into a confrontationist posture and a greater blunder.

Doing what was right and proper in this instance also had definite political advantages contrary to the perceptions of BJP party leaders, Khushabhau Thakre and Venkaiah Naidu, who were urging a strong line. The Akali Dal, Lok Shakti and other allies had made their disapproval of the government's actions obvious to the point where the BJP was looking fairly isolated in the ruling coalition. Dissenting allies made the move to sack Rabri Devi appear like a BJP-Samta Party manoeuvre rather than a well-considered decision by the whole cabinet. When the chips were down, those allies might not have actually voted against the government in the Lok Sabha but the risks of rocking the boat and setting off a new round of insistent demands from Jayalalitha, Mamata Banerjee andpossibly Biju Patnaik were real enough. Apart from the trouble within, account must be taken of Opposition tactics to embarrass the government. Thus, in addition to the impropriety of Governor Sundar Singh Bhan-dari's public statements, a misreading of the Constitution, deliberate or otherwise, there had been political miscalculations.

The BJP should therefore thank the President for throwing it a lifeline which it grabbed to climb out of the hole it had dug for itself.There are no two ways about the fact that Bihar is badly governed. The continuing fiction that Rabri Devi functions as chief minister is a disgrace. Financial management of the state is a scandal. All these problems require a political solution. It is no remedy whatsoever to misuse constitutional provisions in order to bring about a realignment of political forces in the state. BJP leaders who had fought vociferously in the past against frequent and partisan recourse to Article 356 should have known better than to invoke it for politicalpurposes. That they succumbed to temptation so soon after coming to power speaks poorly of their commitment to the principles they profess.