Munda has some anxious moments before he takes oath
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Sep 10, 2010, 04.05am IST
NEW DELHI: Even as the Union Cabinet on Thursday recommended revocation of governor's rule in Jharkhand clearing the decks for government formation in the state, BJP leader Arjun Munda still has some anxious moments before he takes oath as President Pratibha Patil had to leave the country for her 10-day foreign visit without signing on the dotted line.
Since the Cabinet decided to revoke governor's rule after the President's departure for her Laos and Cambodia trip, Rashtrapati Bhawan now has no option but to get her signature on the scanned copy before Munda's swearing-in schedule for 11 am on Saturday.
Though getting the required paper signed when the President is out of the country does not appear to be difficult, the nitty-gritty involved in it could have been avoided had the Cabinet Secretariat decided to hold the meeting of the Union Cabinet keeping in mind Patil's schedule.
"The meeting of the Cabinet could have taken place late on Wednesday night or early on Thursday morning to avoid such a situation," said an official.
Since the President's scheduled visit was not a secret, the move to hold the Cabinet meeting after she was to leave for Laos around 10 am left many in the government puzzled.
Government sources said officials in Rashtrapati Bhawan were now on the job to get Patil's signature on the scanned copy and they would get it anytime before the swearing-in ceremony of the new Jharkhand chief minister.
Since the President had to leave before signing the paper, all that Union home minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the Cabinet meeting was, "The Cabinet has made appropriate recommendation to the President based on the governor's recommendation. You will have to wait for the President's decision."
The incident is a reminder of what then President APJ Abdul Kalam had to do in May 2005 when he had to approve the Cabinet's decision to dissolve the Bihar assembly while he was in Moscow.
After receiving the then Bihar governor's report on May 22, 2005, the Union Cabinet met around 11 pm the same day and decided to accept the report on dissolving the state assembly. Subsequently, a fax message about the Cabinet's decision was sent to Kalam, who had already left for Moscow by that time. Kalam had then accorded his approval and sent it through fax leading to the notification about dissolution of the Bihar assembly being issued the very next day on May 23, 2005......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDkvMTAjQXIwMTcwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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