It was strange that political parties which had earlier `blatantly' used the Article were now opposing it, BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.

A nationwide debate on the issue would clearly expose the double standards of various political parties, he said. ``Our political rivals are fighting shy of joining the issue since it would expose their double standards', he added.

BJP would bring out a white paper on the `use or misuse' of the article by various governments, he said adding it had been used 108 times so far and the first casualty was the Namboodiripad-led communist government in Kerala in 1957.

Stating that the BJP was never for misuse of Article 356, he said, Bihar was a fit case for imposition of President's rule in the wake of`total constitutional breakdown' there.

``As a party leader, I feel that the situation in Bihar warrants invocation of Article 356 to save the people of the state from mafia rule'', Naidu said.

Defending the Union Cabinet's decision to recommend President's rule in that state, he said President K R Narayanan's decision to return the recommendation to the government was not a political setback for the party.

``It is the President's decision and we respect it'', he said, adding it is for the cabinet to decide on sending back its recommendation to the President for invoking Article 356 in Bihar.