Political games call for the President to be a third umpire, not a mute spectator.

Barely three months into his presidency, K.R. Narayanan has achieved a stature many of his predecessors failed to acquire in an entire term. In refusing to blindly accept the Union Cabinet's recommendation that Central rule be imposed in Uttar Pradesh, the President did more than merely save a legitimate state government; he also fulfilled his mandate as the Constitution's ultimate keeper. That Kalyan Singh's regime had proved its majority in the Assembly and that the governor's report seeking its dismissal was patently falsified was there for all to see. Yet, the ruling United Front thought nothing of subverting democracy only to keep the BJP out of office.

Strictly speaking, the President was duty bound to do what his ministers asked him to. Yet, extraordinary problems -- and extraordinarily ordinary ministers -- call for extraordinary remedies. The Constitution's framers intended the President to be the polity's conscience, rather than the cipher successive prime ministers have sought to reduce him to. With political games becoming increasingly dubious, the President is also called upon to play referee -- or, as in the case of a state where the governor is himself compromised, third umpire. There is, of course, the risk that a less copybook President than Narayanan will simply join the intrigue rather than rise above it. Gujarat, where the governor has given a precariously placed chief minister seven days in which to forge a majority, offers a case in point. The solution to such a situation lies in not allowing its creation. Only responsible politicians can ensure this. In the past week, India's nominal rulers turned a Nelson's eye to propriety. They would do well to remember the message that the admiral for whom the metaphor is named sent his men at the Battle of Trafalgar: "England expects that every man will do his duty to God and his country." India expects likewise. The President has done his duty; it is now for the political class to live up to the nation.

Stand Up to Bullying

If Gujral can't stand the heat, he should leave the kitchen.

The bullying tactics of the Congress in the 72-hour battle for Uttar Pradesh could have been outdone only by the abject supineness of the United Front (UF) led by Prime Minister I.K. Gujral. Having lost most of its MLAs to the BJP in the brief run-up to Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's confidence vote in the state Assembly, the Congress at least had a reason to strike back. No wonder that the party, painted into a corner, pulled out its lone if overused ace: the threat to withdraw support to the UF Government at the Centre. The Union Cabinet should have stood its ground and thwarted Congress President Sitaram Kesri. Instead, Gujral and his ministers capitulated at the very outset as they recommended promulgation of President's rule under Article 356. It is another matter that the President let better judgement prevail when he sent back the Cabinet's recommendation. The point is this recommendation should not have been made in the first place.

Nor was the Cabinet unanimous in its desire to sack Kalyan Singh, the proposal having been resisted from the beginning by Home Minister Indrajit Gupta. Though Gupta, a veteran communist, was expected to bay for the blood of the BJP, he opposed the move on legal, ethical and strategic grounds. Its import eluded Gujral. On the other hand, he surrendered to a gaggle of opportunity-seekers, led by Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who have no national agenda and cannot care less for democratic norms. On assuming office in April, Gujral offered the hope of putting at least some element of governance into a rainbow coalition at odds with itself. He has belied that hope by acting wimpishly under all sorts of pressure -- be it leftist blackmail on economic policies or the Congress' cowboy technique of negotiation. If Gujral lacks the spine to lead, he can at least crawl away from power.

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