Buta gets wish, takes R-Day salute

New Delhi: More than 24 hours after the Supreme Court's stinging verdict, Bihar Governor Buta Singh took his Republic Day salute in Panta.

Chief Minister Nitish kumar and other ministers were present in the function.

This may well be the last time Buta Singh takes salute as governor in Patna. Sources have told CNN-IBN that he may have to quit soon. The Supreme Court has severely indicted him for recommending the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly last year.

Some protests were also held in the streets of Patna against Buta Singh staying on as governor

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated on Wednesday that the Supreme Court's strong directive against Buta must be obeyed. However, the Congress seems to be caught in a bind.

The party neither wants to defend Buta nor does it want to leave him in the lurch.

"There is very little success rate of review petitions. So we don't want to do that, but we have to read the entire judgment," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

However, if Buta refuses to resign, it could enormously damage the image of Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

On Tuesday, the Union Cabinet could not arrive at a compromise formula that would have included a face-saving measure for Buta, who clearly wants a respectful way out.

A review petition is one of the demands that a defiant Buta Singh has made before he agrees to step down.

But the UPA government is reluctant to hand him that privilege because the Supreme Court verdict is too powerful to ignore and the Bihar governor is fast running out of friends.

An NDA delegation met President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum seeking the removal of both Buta Singh and the Prime Minister.

"We hold the Prime Minister responsible," BJP leader L K Advani said.

Meanwhile, CPM leader H S Surjeet said that Buta Singh is a thief and that he should be removed immediately.

Ironically, the man who played a key role in the imposition of the President's rule maintained cryptic silence.

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav sidestepped questions on his role in the dissolution of the house.

"What is there to be said. The SC has given it's decision and after all the Supreme Court is Supreme Court," Lalu said.

In its order, the Supreme Court had asked for a debate on what kind of people should be occupying Raj Bhavans all over the country.

So far the political fraternity seems to be fighting for its own interests rather than attempting to cleanse the system.