It was in the context of these happenings and prospects that Shri Sukhadia wrote to the Governor on 12th March, 1967 expressing his unwillingness to form a Ministry. In this situation, the Governor felt that when the opposition had chosen to disregard democratic methods and procedures it was not possible to carry on the Government of the State in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The Government agreed with the assessment of the Governor of Rajasthan and were of the view that regrettable as it was, there was no alternative to the assumption by the President temporarily of the functions of the State Government under article 356 of the Constitution. It was decided, however, not to dissolve the legislature so that the position could be reviewed after some time with the object of restoring normal responsible government in the State. I share the unhappiness and anxiety of the honourable Members of the House at the interruption of responsible Government in Rajasthan and would like to assure the House that the Proclamation will be revoked as soon as it appears that normal conditions and feelings have been restored, and that a Ministry can be formed without any risk of disturbance of peace and order.
Reply to questions posed by Shri Bhupesh Gupta in his speech :
Shri Y. B. Chavan : Personally, it would have been much more easier to answer questions one by one. For example, the long eloquent speech of my hon. friend, Shri Bhupesh Gupta possibly he may have satisfied himself - has made an impression on my mind that he has not fully heard the statement I made. The only argument that he is making is whether the Governor while making up his own mind, had taken into consideration the position whether any particular party had an absolute majority or not. I have started my statement by saying that as a result of the elections, the picture was very clear that no particular party was in absolute majority. Where, as it has happened in many other States, some pre-existing coalitions had majority, the Governor invited the leader of the existing coalition to form Governments. Here the situation was that not one political party including the Congress was in absolute majority, neither the pre-existing coalition that existed in Rajasthan had also any majority.
Therefore, the Governor, naturally, had to ascertain the position and I have made a reference to the Press statement, the statement made at the Press conference which he held on 4th March, in which he has given his reasons why he decided to call the leader of the Government because it was very difficult for him to depend upon the changing loyalty of the so-called Independent Members. It was rather difficult to go by that. Therefore he decided that the leader of the largest party should be invited to form the Government. So it was absolutely constitutional as far as he is concerned and I do not think there were any subjective elements to which Mr. Gupta has not understood this constitutional position. The constitutional position is, even after taking an objective view to be incorrect and what is the correction for it? The Constitution itself has provided a correction for it; because, the man chosen to become the Chief Minister ultimately has to face the Assembly and if he fails to get a majority, certainly he has to resign.
