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NEW DELHI, March 7: India's Congress party-led government imposed federal rule in the politically crucial state of Bihar on Monday, after feuding parties failed to cobble together a majority from an inconclusive state poll.
Bihar has been ruled by a key member of the federal coalition, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), since 1990 but the regional party lost its majority in the state assembly in last month's polls.
Its main rival, an alliance that includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also fell short of a simple majority required to rule in the 243-seat legislature. Both groups had sought to woo the Lok Janshakti party, a junior member of the federal coalition government, to boost their numbers in the state legislature, but made no progress after a week of negotiations.
POLITICAL INSTABILITY: Analysts say the Bihar imbroglio raises the prospect of political instability in New Delhi because the Congress-led coalition's majority in the 545- member parliament could come down if the RJD, with 24 members, pulls out of the government.
The RJD's maverick leader, Lalu Prasad Yadav, kept the Congress on tenterhooks for days after last May's election before he finally decided to join the government. "The cabinet has approved president's rule in Bihar," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told reporters.
Bihar Governor Buta Singh recommended federal rule after he was convinced no party could form a stable government in the eastern state, the country's third most populous. Elections held in three of India's 29 states last month brought mixed results for the Congress party.
The Congress and its allies swept the election in the northern state of Haryana, but fared poorly in Bihar. The vote in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand produced a hung assembly, with the opposition BJP the largest party. But the state governor swore in an ally of the Congress-led federal government, triggering an uproar.
OPTIMISM: Cautious optimism gripped Bihar as traders and businesspeople looked to federal rule as a reprieve from daily crime and extortionist threats.
"At least federal rule should be able to take care of growing crime in the state," said Subodh Kumar, a shopkeeper in Bihar's state capital Patna, who celebrated the news with his friends by setting off firecrackers.
"We hope that politically patronised crime will be checked," said housewife Pratima Sinha. "We were scared to even send our children to school because there have been so many children kidnapped these years."
India's main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it hoped federal rule would end the lawlessness. "It is unfortunate that president's rule had to be imposed in the state ... But we hope that jungle raj in the state will come to an end with it," said senior BJP party leader V.K Malhotra.
At least 5,000 murders and 12,000 abductions take place in Bihar every year, according to police. Mr Yadav became Bihar chief minister in March 1990 and returned to office five years later but installed his wife Rabri Devi in office in 1997 when he faced imprisonment in a case of financial corruption. -Reuters/AFP
