President Pranab Mukherjee has a lot of thinking to do before declaring President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh. On one side is the Congress “ the political party he belonged to before taking up residence at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and on the other is a constitutional crisis brought upon the state by politicians who are unable to sort out the mess. The crisis was precipitated by a split in the Congress which had 47 MLAs. In such a situation, the best place for a trial of strength is the Assembly. So the Governor called a session but the Speaker refused to convene it. The result was a Constitutional crisis with governance paralysed in the state. Although Arunachal Pradesh is a good case for President’s Rule, there are some who think some time must be given for the crisis to blow over, if that can ever happen considering the bitterness between the rebel group of 22 MLAs and Chief Minister Nabam Tuki. Added to this cauldron of messy politics is another ingredient “ national politics. The Congress does not want to lose its government and the BJP would like to see it fall. The President has very little room for manoeuvre and unless better sense prevails in Arunachal, a brief spell of Central Rule might be the right prescription for errant politicians.
