Non-Choice in US


a State to intervene decisively in the functioning of government must be regretted as unfortunate. A similar situation might have arisen in West Bengal but for the collapse of the PDF- Congress Ministry before the trial of strength between the Speaker and the Governor could be completed. But, as in West Bengal, the basic issues involved are political, not constitutional. In Punjab, though, the Speaker had no reservations about the legality of the Gill Ministry when it was formed in November last. His differences with the Chief Minister are of more recent origin. Among their most important sources is the eclipse of the Chief Minister in Sikh politics within the Akali Dal. Sant Fateh Singh had expelled Gill and some of his colleagues from the Akali Dal on their defection from the United Front. Gill had then claimed that the expulsion was illegal. The claim was put to test at the annual budget meeting of the SGPC, the executive council of the Akali Dal, last month which marked a decisive victory for Sant Fateh Singh.