NEW DELHI: The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Tuesday sought the resignations of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bihar Governor Buta Singh following the Supreme Court's indictment of the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre for recommending dissolution of the Bihar Assembly in May last year. The President, who was abroad at the time, dissolved the Assembly after the Union Cabinet, chaired by Dr. Singh, recommended such a move at a late night meeting.

NDA Convenor and Janata Dal (United) president George Fernandes said not just Mr. Buta Singh but the Prime Minister, along with the Union Council of Ministers, should also resign. "If the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers can be mislead, then they are not worthy of being in power. The President has every right to remove them." Warning a "jan andolan" if those indicted continued to remain in power, Mr. Fernandes said the NDA would soon meet the President to press their demand.

BJP leader L.K. Advani said the judgment had a "far-reaching and meaningful impact." "Democratic accountability demands that both the Prime Minister and the Governor should quit. The decision that has been held unconstitutional by the apex court may have been taken on the basis of the Governor's report but the decision was not his. The judgment says that the decision was motivated to prevent someone [Nitish Kumar] from taking office. By convening a meeting in the dead of the night, the Prime Minister was sub-serving the same motive. The Court's observations may appear harsher against the Governor but the culpability of the Prime Minister is evidently greater because he was instrumental in misleading the President in this regard."

The BJP leader said the apex court had been "understandably polite" in its observations on the Union Council of Ministers but whatever had been said was a strong comment. "For the court to say that the Council of Ministers accepted the Governor's report without verification as gospel truth, is a very strong comment and a serious charge. In fact, the judgement in its totality suggests that if the Government was misled, the Prime Minister, as the head of the Council of Ministers, had misled the President into committing an unconstitutional act." According to him, as head of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi was also "accountable." Mr. Advani described as "gross contempt of court" Mr. Buta Singh's reported denial of any plans to quit. "Anybody with a conscience would have stepped down."

On the court's observation about having a policy on the appointment of governors, Mr. Advani said the Sarkaria Commission's recommendation that political persons should not be appointed to that post was unanimously rejected in the Inter-State Council meeting. The NDA Government, however, had initiated the convention of consulting Chief Ministers on governors' appointments but the UPA had done away with that practice "with this result."

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