People's Democracy

On Jharkhand Decision

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on March 3, 2005.

The CPI(M) has consistently held the position that the claims of majority support and the formation of government must be decided in the floor of the legislature. The Governor, or the Raj Bhawan, cannot be the deciding factor. Even while not accepting the claim of the BJP-led alliance about the majority it has mustered in Jharkhand, it must be pointed that the hasty manner in which the Governor has gone about ascertaining the support for the two combinations is controversial.

The BJP is protesting loudly about what happened in Jharkhand, but it is also responsible for using Governors in a partisan manner and violating norms, as seen in the installation of an unrepresentative government in Bihar 2000.  It is essential for protecting democratic practices that Governors scrupulously adhere to norms. (INN)