Can Prez reverse Jharkhand decision?

Jharkhand Governor will meet Kalam today, writes Deshbandhu Singh.

The 'controversy' over the appointment of JMM chief Shibu Soren as Chief Minister of Jharkhand by the state Governor Syed Sibte Hasan Razi seems to have irked President Abdul Kalam, who has summoned Razi.

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But what really can the President do? Can he rescind the decision of the Governor? Is the summons just an appeasement tactic thrust upon him by the UPA government to placate the Opposition or to find some kind of compromise? Constitutional experts feel President can do nothing to reverse the Governor's decision.

"The President has no power to reverse the decision of the Governor. The President can impose the President's rule in a state, but only on the advice of the Prime Minister," senior Supreme Court lawyer Rajeev Dhawan told Hindustantimes.com.

NDA going to the President is just a political call or a way of carrying on agitation further, as the Opposition is doing by stalling Parliament, says Dhawan.

Another constitutional expert KK Venugopal agrees with Dhawan on the power of the President in case he disagrees with the decision of the Governor. He says, "As the President of India, he can also advise the Governor to follow established constitutional norms but unfortunately, the President cannot exercise any executive powers to compel the Governor to follow the conventions of the Constitution."

What if Opposition chooses to move Supreme Court? Dhawan feels that the Opposition had better chance in Goa than in Jharkhand. In case of Jharkhand, calling a party to form government is very much within Governor's constitutional power.

Then what are the options with the NDA? Just fight it out on the floor of the House on March 21, says Dhawan.

Will Bihar go the Jharkhand way?

The role of the Governor in case of a hung assembly has one again come into question. The day after the Budget was introduced in the Parliament, the Opposition led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalled the proceedings of the House over the dismissal of Manohar Parrikar Government in Goa. The following day, on Wednesday the Opposition was up in arms against the decision of the Jharkhand Governor to invite Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren to form Government in the state. The nation is now anxiously watching what will be the role of Buta Singh, the Governor of Bihar, after Ram Vilas Paswan refused to back a Rashtriya Janata Dal-led government and Lalu Yadav flexing his muscle to continue his party's 15-year-old rule, uninterrupted.

In case of Jharkhand, the role of Governor seems more questionable as Razi had sidelined the claim of the NDA with majority seats and entertained JMM chief's 'paper' claim of majority. By all the logic, the former Chief Minister Arjun Munda's claim to the governance appeared more valid by dint of both -- being the leader of the single-largest pre-poll alliance (36 seats) and also the single largest party (30 seats) in the state. And after parading five independents MLAs before the Governor on Wednesday afternoon swearing their support to NDA, there was little doubt that Arjun Munda would not be invited to form government, except for some dilly-dallying.