India likely to impose federal rule in Bihar

India's Congress-led government was expected to impose direct rule in the politically crucial state of Bihar on Sunday, after feuding parties failed to cobble together a majority from an inconclusive state poll. Bihar's governor Buta Singh recommended federal rule after he was convinced no party could form a stable government in the eastern state, the country's third most populous, state television said.
The federal coalition cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to consider the governor's report later on Sunday, local television said. The decision to implement the recommendation is seen as a formality.
Bihar is one of India's poorest and most lawless states.
"Let there be a tenure of President's rule in Bihar, it will be better than the misrule we had all these years," said federal Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who refused to commit the support of his group to either of Bihar's two main parties.
The regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party, an ally of the Congress party which ruled Bihar for 15 years, lost its majority in the state assembly in last month's elections.
But its main rival, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, also fell short of a simple majority required to rule in the 243-seat legislature.
Both groups had sought to woo Paswan's Lok Janshakti party, a junior member of the federal coalition government, to boost their numbers in the state legislature but appeared to have made no progress after a week of negotiations.
If direct rule is imposed, state officials rather than local politicians will run Bihar on behalf of President Abdul Kalam.
"If the governor thinks the formation of a new government is not possible and makes such a recommendation to the union government, imposition of President's rule becomes inevitable," said constitutional expert Basudev Prasad.
Elections held in three of India's 29 states in February brought mixed results for the Congress party which ousted the Hindu nationalists from power in a national election last year.
The Congress and its allies swept the election in the northern state of Haryana but fared poorly in Bihar.
The vote in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand produced a hung assembly, with the opposition BJP the largest party. But the state governor swore in an ally of the Congress-led federal government, triggering an uproar.