History of President's Rule in Bihar

It is the 8th time when president's rule is imposed in Bihar.

President's rule was imposed for the first time in the state on June 29, 1968 when Bhola Paswan Shastri, succumbing to pulls and pressures from various constituents of his Sanyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD), resigned and asked the governor to recommend central rule, which lasted till February 26, 1969.

It was imposed again on July 4, 1969 and January 9, 1972, both times when Bhola Paswan Shastri was the Chief Minister, as he could not manage his squabbling coalition partners.

Bihar was brought under central rule for the fourth time on April 30, 1977 when Jagannath Mishra's Congress government was dismissed after Morarji Desai became Prime Minister. It lasted till June 24, 1977.

With the failure of Janata experiment and return of Indira Gandhi to power, she dismissed Ramsunder Das ministry of Janata Party and President's Rule was imposed for the fifth time on February 17, 1980, which continued till June 8, 1980.

The state again came under a brief spell of President's Rule for six days for technical reasons as the assembly could not be constituted till March 15, 1995, due to non-completion of election process.

Central rule was imposed for the seventh time on February 12, 1999 by BJP-led NDA government following the massacre of 22 people at a village on January 25 and killing of 11 of Dalits in Jehanabad district on February 10 which continued till March 9, 1999.

However, as Congress came to the rescue of Rabri Devi government and declared to vote against the central government resolution in the Rajya Sabha where it had the majority, the resolution was withdrawn and President's Rule revoked on March 9, 1999 after 25 days.

And seemingly, this time, it will go for long. Unfortunate but true in the history of Bihar, here ruler changes faster than rules do.

Also read: A guide to President's rule

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