``Article 356 is not the solution for Bihar. The sovereignty of that State cannot be meddled with,'' he told reporters today. About the possibility of the dismissal of the government on the ground of breakdown of law and order, Patel felt that the law and order situation was the ``same everywhere'' save for the southern States.

Asked for his reaction to Bihar governor S S Bhandari that the State was ripe for the use of Article 356, he said that the Home Ministry was the authority to apprise the Union Cabinet on the question of dissolving the Assembly or placing it under suspended animation.

Patel joins former JD chief S R Bommai in opposing the demand for the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government in Bihar. In effect, the two have expressed a viewcontrary to that of JD chief Sharad Yadav and former Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who had led a party delegation to President K R Narayanan demanding the ouster of the Rashtriya Janata Dal government in Bihar.

He said that the national executive of his party had taken a stance against the use of Article 356 in any State. The chief minister said that there was very little anyone could do if the proposed Bill for the creation of a separate Vananchal State was adopted or negatived by the Bihar Assembly.