The CWC announced that Congress MPs would be asked to ``oppose and vote against the motion'' which the government has said it will move tomorrow in the Lok Sabha. Congress whips are to be issued separately in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha which practically seals the fate of President's Rule in Bihar.

While the government can still scrape through in the Lok Sabha, in itself doubtful after Om Prakash Chautala has withdrawn support, the Centre will certainly face defeat in the Rajya Sabha where it can hardly summon 72 of the total 245 votes. And since the President's Rule has to be ratified by both Houses of Parliament individually, the Congress move punctures the second attempt by the BJP to sack the RJDgovernment in Bihar.

It means the Bihar Assembly, which has been kept in suspended animation, will be resurrected. However, it is up to Laloo Yadav whether to continue with Rabri Devi as the Chief Minister or not. The Congress feels Laloo will stick by his wife.

The motion is not one on which the Union Government falls but it results in much egg on Vajpayee's face. The most immediate result is that the CWC decision nullifies Vajpayee's ``diplomatic coup'' with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the last two days.

More importantly, it forces the BJP into a tough choice of whether to go ahead with the motion, and have it defeated, or withdraw it: both embarrassing enough. The CWC decision has several other ramifications, one of them being it immediately precipitates a severe crisis for the BJP-led coalition government.

Of late Vajpayee has been involved in a running battle with the RSS and with the CWC stressing on the RSS's hand in governance as the main reason why it chose to oppose thePresident's Rule, the RSS-Vajpayee tussle bounces back into reckoning. Dropping the bombshell, CWC member Arjun Singh told the media: ``The CWC has decided to oppose the resolution and the CPP will vote against it.''

Singh added: ``The CWC felt that in principle, the decision, to impose President's Rule, was wrong. The attitude that came through from various actions of the government was also taken note of. That the RSS was trying to pressurise the government into a certain position which is not the correct thing to do. The RSS is the prime decision-taking body in the government but this doesn't surprise us. The RSS is trying to order the agenda and we cannot accept this.''

Union Home Minister L K Advani's remarks that Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari was to be ``replaced by an apolitical person'', Bhandari's retort to this that he was an RSS activist first, and finally Advani's backtracking and retaining Bhandari in Bihar were cited as examples of the ``government's actions'' which the CWC didn'tlike.

Apparently, all Muslim members of the CWC, secularists like Arjun Singh and pro-Laloo Yadav leaders like Sitaram Kesri and Tariq Anwar were forceful in their arguments which left Sonia with little choice. It also raises doubts on the Vajpayee government's survival but the Congress claimed it wasn't bothered about it.

``Obviously, our decision has its consequences, legal and otherwise, which will have to be awaited. But the BJP government's survival is not our concern. Neither is the RJD government (in Bihar). There is no support to the RJD. They neither want nor need our support,'' Singh said.

However, the Congress decision has clear implications on the Centre's survival as well as the consolidation of secular forces. Sonia has been advising Congressmen to ge ready for responsibilities ``sooner than later'' and the CWC seems to have advanced this possibility. Also, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, which has been blowing hot against the Congress, could now soften its stand. At least for awhile.

The CWC has, in the process, reduced Sonia's ``moral outrage'' as as a ``necessary remark''. Soon after the February 11 massacre of Dalits in Jehanabad, Bihar, which led to the imposition of President's Rule, Sonia had said the Rabri Devi government had lost the ``moral right to govern''. It led to speculation that the Congress would back the BJP this time.

But now, the CWC feels Sonia's remark was ``unambiguous'' in terms of the outrage that the party felt at the massacre of Dalits. The fact that the decision to oppose President's Rule might be seen as anti-Dalit, will be dealt with in the days to come.

Sonia is expected to initiate a series of ``pro-Dalit'' programmes to ``correct'' this ``impression''. ``We are very much concerned. We will do everything to protect the lives and property of Dalits. And if any incidents against them occur, we will protest,'' Arjun Singh said.

Before that, however, the Congress expects ``plenty of heat'' at the Centre. The Budget session of Parliament has trulyswung into action following this afternoon's CWC meeting.