Governor asks Suresh Mehta to defer expansion of ministry - The Times of India

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Pending physical verification of the BJP legislators,
governor Krushna Pal Singh is believed to have conveyed
to chief minister Suresh Mehta not to go ahead with the
expansion of his truncated ministry. and the appointment
of new chair- persons of various statutory corporations
and boards.

Soon after the revolt by some ruling party legislators
and their expulsion from the party, the chief minister
had declared on Saturday that he would be expanding his
ministry to fill in the "vacuum" created by the dismissal
of some ministers.

He had also hinted at the possibility of appointing some
chairpersons on vacant posts of corporations and boards.

After causing a split in the party, ministers Dilip
Parikh and Atmaram Patel had met the governor and
submitted a list of legislators, who, they claimed, had
joined the Gujarat Janata Party.

They had also requested the governor to recognise their
party in the state assembly, as It had support of more
than one-third of the 119-member BJP legislature party.

They requested him not to allow the chief minister either
to expand his ministry or appoint new chairpersons of
corporations and boards.

Before his departure to Delhi, the governor is believed
to have conveyed this to the chief minister.

Taking it as an offence, the chief minister not only
launch a blistering attack on the governor on Tuesday
evening, but also declared that he would not seek any
meeting with Mr Singh. "There is no question of my
calling on him to convince him of the majority support
enjoyed by my ministry," Mr Mehta declared at a press
conference.

Raj Bhavan sources indicated on Wednesday that the
governor may not be in a position to meet legislators at
least for next four to five days, owing to his illness
and hospitalisation.

The governor had also not send any message either to the
chief minister or the new leader of the Gujarat Janata
Party Mr Dilip Parikh to ascertain their views.

Incidentally, speaker of the state assembly Harishchandra
Patel, who had undergone extensive treatment for cancer
recently in Mumbai, is reportedly still ill. As both
the governor and the speaker, the two constitutional
authorities who matter most in the current controversy,
are indisposed, the political uncertainty is likely to
drag on for another three to four days.

Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded that President S.D.
Sharma "pull up governor Krushna Pal Singh and advise him
to go by the constitution in settling the issue of the
support to the Suresh Mehta ministry in the state
assembly."

BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu said the Mehta
ministry enjoyed majority support in the house. He
accused the governor of "playing into the hands of
certain elements with vested interests, whose main
objective was to pollute the political climate in the
state."

Continuing his attack on the governor, Mr Naidu told
newspersons that Mr Singh was unnecessarily creating
suspicion and confusion in the minds of the people.

Pradesh unit president Vajubhai Vala and party legislator
Harin Pandya have filed separate petitions before the
speaker to "disqualify all those party legislators,
including expelled ministers and members, (numbering 12)
who were present at Rashtriya Janata Party convener
Shankarsinh Waghela's 'mahasammelan' in Ahmedabad on
Tuesday, from the house as per the provisions of the
anti-defection laws."

The chief minister reported that he had Information that
some legislators had even asked the speaker to disqualify
the Independent members present at the rally.

The anti-defection laws state that attendance at a
rally where the formation of a new party is announced Is
its tacit endorsement, which Is the ground for
disqualification, Mr Naidu and Mr Vala explained.

Mr Naidu demanded that these legislators resign their
seats in the house and seek fresh mandate. They had been
elected on the BJP platform and now had no moral right to
represent the people.

Mr Naidu and Mr Vala accused the Waghela group of trying
both to "entice as also kidnap" loyal BJP legislators.
This was tried out when expelled minister C.K. Raolji
went to the official residence of parliamentary secretary
to the chief minister Tersi Damor to kidnap Pratapsinh
Patel, they added. Similar tactics were employed by
another expelled minister Vipul Chaudhary, who tried to
play the same trick on party MP A.K. Patel.

Mr Naidu said these efforts were a part of the "bigger
gameplan" of Mr Waghela. If these attempts had
succeeded, the group, which did not enjoy the majority
support of the legislators, would have added some more
legislators to its fold, he claimed.

Mr Vala said the Wednesday rally had shown the party's
true colours as people of dubious characters - one TADA
detenue from Mumbai, a suspended police constable and a
criminal - were given prominence on the dais.

People from Rajkot had been hired at the rate of Rs 100
per head and' those from Ahmedabad at Rs 50. "It had
mass, but no class," Mr Vala commented.

Both Mr Vala and the chief minister denied that the
ruling party had "split" and said they did not consider
the newly formed Rashtriya Janata Party posed any threat
to the party of government. "There Is no impact
whatsoever," they added.

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