``Our position is clear. We are opposed to the use of Article 356 under any circumstance. We have already taken a stand on the issue and will stand by it,'' Union Minister and senior Akali Dal leader Surjit Singh Barnala told UNI this evening.

Barnala was replying to questions on the Akali Dal's stand in the event of the Union Cabinet sending the recommendation for dismissing the Rabri Devi Government to President K R Narayanan once again.

Barnala said no decision was taken with regard to sending the recommendation back to the president, adding, ``We are awaiting the arrival of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow. The Union Cabinet is expected to meet and possibly consider the issue, soon after his return from the eight-dayvisit to the United States and France.''

Barnala parried questions on whether his party subscribed to the Bharatiya Janata Party's repeated assertions that Bihar was a fit case for President's Rule. He also said his party ``would not like to go into the specifics'' of whether it was satisfied with the law and order situation in the State.

The Akali Dal, he said, is all for scrapping Article 356 as per the Anandpur Sahib Resolution adopted by the party 23 years ago. ``The party has been a victim of this Article as many as seven times when its elected government in Punjab was dismissed by the Congress, on flimsy grounds,'' Barnala recalled.

He said the regional parties in the ruling coalition, particularly the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), shared the Akali Dal's views in the matter.

Barnala said while parties such as the Congress, BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) favoured the Article's continuance, a majority of regional parties were for its abrogation.

The regional parties have long been atthe receiving end, he said, referring to the dismissal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government in Tamil Nadu in 1992 without even the governor's report being at hand.

On the volte-face by Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde on the imposition of President's Rule in Bihar, Barnala said, ``He (Hegde) is a seasoned politician and I do not not want to comment on it.''

Hegde, who had described the Union Cabinet's recommendation on imposition of President's Rule in Bihar as ``a blunder'', has now contended that the law and order situation in Bihar was out of control, which might necessitate approaching the president once again.

``The Akali Dal is prepared to join a national debate on use of this Article, as suggested by Union Home Minister L K Advani,'' Barnala said, adding, ``We will put forth our viewpoint. But there has been no effort in rallying the regional parties together for a united stand on the issue.''

The Akali Dal leader expressed dismay at the non-implementation of the Sarkaria Commission,which had gone into the whole gamut of Centre-State relations, including the appointment of governors.

He added that the issue of imposing President's Rule was not a part of the national agenda of governance by the BJP-led ruling coalition.