It seemed that the BJP was not clear on the use of Article 356 in Bihar. ``It wanted to kill two birds with one stone. While it wanted to send a message to the people of the state that it was in favour of the dismissal of the state government, it also sought to pre-empt similar demands from its allies like Jayalalitha and Mamata Bannerjee,'' he told The Indian Express here.

He said that by playing this ``political game,'' the BJP had ended up making a hero out of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. He also criticised the party for not taking its allies into confidence before the Cabinet decided to recommend dismissal of the state government.

Paswan said that there were adequate grounds for the use of the Article but the BJP did not make use of the options availableto it under the Constitution. It could have sent out a directive to the Rabri Devi government for violation of certain Constitutional obligations. It could also have sought periodic reports from the State on certain matters.

``These factors could have made the case against the state government foolproof. But the BJP-led government did not even seek a report from the state administration in all these months that it has been in office,'' he said.

The JD parliamentary party leader, who has been pressing for the dismissal of the RJD government in the face of opposition from a section within the party comprising former Prime Minister I K Gujral and former ministers S R Bommai and S Jaipal Reddy, was also sceptical whether President K R Narayanan had done the right thing by returning the Cabinet advice.

``In my opinion the President should have taken the advice seriously in the light of the situation being what it is in Bihar. The RJD government has scant regard for democratic institutions and theConstitution, prompting the courts to remark that jungle law prevails in the State,'' he said.

Paswan was also critical of the Left parties and some of his partymen for backing the RJD on the issue of the dismissal of the state government. ``Laloo is not a symbol of secularism for the Opposition parties to unite. The same Left was fighting against Laloo on the issue of corruption for the last two years,'' he said.

``When JD workers were killed in police firing in Sitamarhi these pro-Laloo leaders of my party did not even bother to visit the place,'' he said.