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Tohra opposes Rabri Devi's dismissal

Jaspal Singh Sidhu in New Delhi

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Prem Singh Chandumajra, chief whip of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the Lok Sabha, today opposed the imposition of President's rule in Bihar.

They said using the killings by the Ranvir Sena as a pretext for invoking Article 356 was "unjustified".

Tohra, a senior Akali politician, said it is well known that the Ranvir Sena is a private army of landlords opposed to land reform while the ousted Rashtriya Janata Dal is a champion of the backward classes and dalits. So how could the RJD align with the Sena, he asked. He dismissed as "concocted and motivated" media reports that RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav was backing the Sena.

Tohra said using a few incidents of violence to effect a political change was not desirable. "How come even after the so-called toning up of the state administration, seven people were again gunned down yesterday," he asked.

Tohra said Punjab, particularly the Akalis, had been victims of such machinations by the Centre several times.

Supporting Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's stand against Article 356 at a recent meeting of chief ministers, Tohra said the Akalis had always been at the forefront of opposition to President's rule, which violates the federal and democratic spirit of the Indian Constitution.

In the late Indira Gandhi's days, state governments were reduced to municipal committees when chief ministers of opposition parties were thrown away on a whim, he said.

The revival of such practices should not be allowed, he said.

UNI

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