The Rediff Interview/Ramaswamy Venkataraman
'Nobody will be able to form a government and we are heading towards a general election'
Ramaswamy Venkataraman
is the only living former President, so it is natural that people turn to him at times of
Constitutional crisis, like the one confronting India today. Who would be a better
guide to what the President should do in such a crisis than the man
who presided over the demise of two governments and installed the first
minority government in India's history.
Unlike Shobha Warrier's
earlier interviews with the former President, Venkataraman, 86, was a bit more open,
but pessimistic when she met him at his Madras home for an exclusive interview
for Rediff On The NeT.
The President has given the prime minister time till
April 11 to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. Will it
not result in horse trading, now that the Congress wants to
form a government?
Constitutionally, the President has done the correct thing
by asking the prime minister to take a vote of confidence in the
House. A similar situation arose when the BJP withdrew support
to V P Singh's government. When the BJP came and reported to me
that they have withdrawn the support, I told them that the government
has to prove its majority in the House. Since the majority has
to be established in the House, it is appropriate that it is tested
in the House by a motion of confidence or a motion of no-confidence.
Suppose the Deve Gowda government does not win the vote of
confidence, can the President call the Congress to form a
government? The Congress is only the second largest party
in the Lok Sabha.
Normally, he should ask the parties according to their strength.
And the BJP, according to its strength, stands above the Congress.
But the President may not ask the BJP once again because he had
already given them a chance and they have not been able to form
a government. The next in order of strength is the Congress. He
can ask the Congress to form a government.
But when the BJP government
resigned after being unable to muster strength, the Congress itself
said the President may call the United Front. Therefore, it
could be interpreted that the Congress had itself declined on
the earlier occasion. So, it rests completely with the discretion
of the President whether to call the Congress or not.
If you had been in that position, would you have called the
Congress?
See, it is difficult to say. I am not in touch with the parties.
It all depends on various factors. If I felt that the Congress
is in a position to form a viable government, then I might invite
them. If I came to the conclusion that the Congress is not a position
to form a viable government and like Charan Singh, they would
accept the office and call for the dissolution of the House, I
may not agree. It depends on the political situation at the Centre
with which I am not personally familiar.
Will this kind of situation not lead to defections? No single
party can form a government now and if anybody wants to prove
its majority, it can do so only by accepting members from
other parties.
Technically, defection is breaking away of a group from within
the party. And, under the anti-defection law, it will not be defection
if the defection is more than one third of the members of the
party. Therefore, you cannot foresee what the situation could be.
You said the President may not call the BJP again because
it could not form a government earlier. In your time, when V
P Singh resigned, you called the Congress once again and when
they declined, you called the BJP and then the Left Front.
It came to Chandra Shekhar only when he came to you with the backing
of the Congress. Why did you follow that pattern then?
At that time I felt they would be able to form a viable
government, if given an opportunity. It is for them to decide
whether they will be able to form a viable government or not.
Even when I called, I knew that the Congress would not accept
the offer, nor would the BJP accept the offer, nor would the Left
Front accept the offer.
How did you assess the situation then?
When you are in actual touch with all the parties, the leaders
and so on, then you know what the situation is. I was in touch
with every one of the political parties. I was in touch with the
leaders of the political parties, and they had a lot of confidence
in me. So, they used to come and tell me what their position was.
Therefore, I was able to take a decision then.
If the Deve Gowda government does not win the
vote of confidence and if he then asks the President to dissolve the House, while
other parties are staking their claim, does the President have
to follow the prime minister's recommendation and dissolve
the House?
It is a very important legal question. In England, for the
last two hundred years, the advice of the prime minister to dissolve
the House, whether in office or defeated in the House, has always
been accepted by the Crown. In India, people argue that the President
must examine whether any viable alternative could be formed. I
am a man who was a text book President.
You must make a distinction
between a Constitutional President and an executive President.
If you are the executive President, you can decide whether you
can dissolve the House or cannot dissolve the House. But if you
are the Constitutional President, you must accept the advice of
the prime minister whether he is in office or defeated.
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