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Indian Press hails

Sharma for Kaul's exit

NEW DELHI: Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma was Tuesday hailed by the media for forcing the exit of a top official tainted by bribery in what was seen as a rebuke for Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The opposition joined newspapers in urging the president to be prepared to play a similar assertive role in the event of a hung parliament from general elections beginning on April 27.

Sheila Kaul, governor of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, resigned Sunday over a housing scandal after initially resisting calls by the opposition to step down.

President Sharma, in a rare show of public displeasure with Rao, rejected over the weekend the premier's pleas to let Kaul stay as governor, a post which gave her immunity from criminal prosecution.

"Well done, President," the mass-circulation Hindustan Times newspaper said in an editorial.

"The nation is well served by the president," added The Statesman. The Pioneer echoed the opinion, saying Sharma had displayed independence of mind as well as "propensity for taking a balanced view of things."

The Indian president, as the constitutional head-of-state, plays a crucial role in assessing claims by different parties in the event of a split electoral verdict, which is widely expected from the staggered April-May polls.

Newspapers said Sharma, formerly a leader of Rao's Congress (I) party, might be preparing for such a role and that some of his recent decisions were probably aimed at asserting his independence.

"The president has acted very wisely in virtually dismissing Sheila Kaul," said a communist leader, Muqumuddin Farooqi. "He has asserted himself, and this is very good.

"In the event of a hung parliament, great responsibility will be thrust on him," Farooqi said. "It will be a very difficult and complicated situation, and the president will be expected to act according to the constitution."

"I am sure he will do the right thing" if this happens said K.R. Malkani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.-AFP