The Rediff Special
Then arose in the country a crisis the like of which no previous
President had ever faced
The first constitutional crisis in Independent India
involved President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and the Janata
Party government. That controversy more than anything since
defined the President's role when events like the present political
upheaval occur.
In our continued effort to keep
readers abreast of current developments and informed about historical precedent,
we reproduce a relevant extract from President Reddy's
acclaimed biography, with the kind courtesy of its publisher.
The resemblance to the present political situation is uncanny.
Things happen in the political career of some leaders forcing
them to face challenging and perplexing situations marked by
constitutional crises. Such an unprecedented situation arose in
July/August, 1979 owing to the tabling of a no-confidence motion
in the Lok Sabha by the leader of the Opposition Y B Chavan on
the eve of the monsoon session of the parliament in July 1979.
Even before the motion was set for debate and put to vote, members
from the Bharatiya Lok Dal, a constituent of the Janata Parliamentary Party
led by Raj Narain, began to cross
the floor of the Lok Sabha and finally requested Speaker
Hedge to allot separate seats for them on the opposition side
under the banner of Janata (Secular). But curiously the leader
of the BLD, Charan Singh, continued to remain
in the Janata government as deputy prime minister with the finance
portfolio.
The situation grew curiouser and curiouser and finally
led to Morarji Desai's resignation from the prime ministership,
paving the way for Charan Singh's exit from the Janata Party
and joining the Janata (S) to become its leader in the Lok Sabha.
Then arose in the country a crisis the like of which no previous
President had ever faced. As luck would have it, there had all
along existed in India a strong, stable and homogenous Congress
party government at the Centre. President Reddy was called upon to solve
the constitutional crisis.
Although he was known for his speedy
decision-making, he had to weigh and balance all considerations.
As there were no precedents to guide him, he was left to his own
resources. He rose to the occasion and proved his grit by handling
and solving the crisis without fear or flinching, guided by his
desire 'to protect and preserve the integrity of the nation.'
After holding a series of consultations with various groups
and political personalities, the President decided to follow the
British convention, and invited Y B Chavan, leader of the Opposition,
perhaps to Chavan's and his party's pleasant surprise, and offered
him the first chance to explore the ways and means to form a viable
alternative government. Thus he set the ball rolling.
After four
days of hectic politicking, consultations and in-camera meetings
with Charan Singh and other party leaders (with the exception
of Indira Gandhi's Congress Parliamentary Party leader C M Stephen)
Chavan pleaded his inability to form a government. Then started
a series of meetings and talks among the leaders of the splinter
groups which had made the task of the President more difficult.
In the meanwhile, Jayaprakash Narayan, who was suffering from acute
kidney trouble and was kept on dialysis in his home town, Patna,
addressed a communication to Morarji Desai requesting him
to step down from the leadership of the Janata Parliamentary Party
and see that Jagjivan Ram was elected in his place. The quest
for unity was in vain.
Desai struck to his guns and refused
to relinquish his leadership of the Janata Parliamentary Party and
sent Chandra Shekhar, the Janata Party president, and others
as emissaries to the President with a view to persuading him to
invite him (Morarji) again to form the government much to
the amusement of even the layman in the street and to the embarrassment
of the President himself.
Then Charan Singh challenged the
contention of Morarji Desai, who resigned as prime minister
even before facing the impending no-confidence motion tabled by
Y B Chavan, and dubbed Morarji's plea to the President as totally
unethical and un-Gandhian.
Kind courtesy: From Farm House to Rashtrapati Bhavan, by I V Chalapati Rao and P
Audinarayana Reddy, Booklinks Corporation, Hyderabad, 1989.
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