Centre won’t act in haste on Orissa Guv’s report

With polls round the corner, the Union government is treading cautiously before taking any decision on the Orissa Governor’s report on the controversial trust vote won by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik last week.

With polls round the corner, the Union government is treading cautiously before taking any decision on the Orissa Governor’s report on the controversial trust vote won by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik last week.

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Orissa Governor M.C. Bhandare in his report submitted to President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday is learnt to have given details of what happened in the assembly on March 11. The Governor has viewed the assembly proceedings on the close circuit television (CCTV) before finalising his report. “The report has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Home Affairs now for an appropriate action,” a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said.

There was no confirmation of the report that the Governor recommended imposition of President’s Rule in the state and described the trust vote “illegal”. The opposition Congress and BJP members had charged the Orissa assembly Speaker with going ahead with a voice vote to save the government instead of following the proper procedure of voting on the confidence motion moved by the CM.

The UPA government does not appear to be inclined to take any drastic action at the moment. “Elections have already been announced and the Centre’s intervention at this juncture could prove counter productive. The matter needs a careful study,” said a Union minister.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram — who discussed the law and order situation with Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Friday — did not comment on the matter. “Additional central forces would be provided to the state to overcome the threat it faced from communal and Naxal elements,” he said.

Despite the Congress state unit strongly demanding the dismissal of the Patnaik government, the party’s central leadership left the matter to the government. “It is for the Union government to take the final decision,” party spokesman Manish Tiwari said. The BJP, however, demanded immediate imposition of President’s Rule. “The UPA government has adopted double standards. It imposed President’s Rule in Meghalaya without any reason and for political reasons is not doing so in Orissa,” party spokesman Prakash Javdekar said.