Acting in tandem, Union Home Minister L K Advani and BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu today called for a nation-wide debate on the use of Article 356, since it could not be imposed on Bihar which was the ``fittest case for its application.''

The BJP is now expected to use the Bihar matter as an election issue during the November polls in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. Reiterating the merit of the Government's case on Bihar, the party would showcase it as an example of its determination to rid the country of corruption and criminalisation.

For the BJP, which is facing an uphill task in Delhi and Rajasthan (where it is in power), the Bihar issue will come in handy. The BJP hopes it will counter public anger at rising prices -- particularly of onions -- the law and order situation, power problems and shortage of edibleoil.

As a first step, the party is preparing a brochure on the Bihar issue to "expose'' Opposition parties. Naidu said the document, which would be widely circulated, will detail the administrative breakdown in the State as well as the about-turn Opposition parties did after the Cabinet recommended Bihar Government's dismissal. Many of them, including the Left, had earlier demanded the removal of the Rabri Government.

Though the President rejected the move, the BJP is sticking to its stand that the situation in Bihar called for the imposition of Article 356. ``If there can be any model of what a Government should not be like, it is Bihar,'' Advani said in Jaipur, adding, ``If we say the law and order has deteriorated that is too mild a statement.''

Advani said a detailed document should be prepared on the subject, which should include instances of the dismissal of BJP-led State Governments in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. He claimed the Bihar Government was facing 1,200 contempt ofcourt cases and that Government employees and teachers had not been paid salaries for months together.

Yesterday, BJP president Kushabhau Thakre had said that Article 356 was redundant if it could not be used in Bihar.