NEW DELHI, 24 March 2005 — The mood of two archrivals indicate that a new political equation is likely to emerge in Bihar which is presently under president rule and all the political parties are opposing it as well as fresh assembly elections.
Keeping that in mind — two rival groups — Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) were believed to be working overtime to forget the bitter past to form a new political combination in the state. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and JD-(U’s) Nitish Kumar were giving indications of a new warmth in their relationship. “No one is untouchable, If we have to form a government in Bihar, We will have to ignore ifs and buts,” said Nitish.
If we do not work toward the formation of a democratically elected government in Bihar, either president rule will continue for long or state will have to go for fresh elections, both are in no way favorable to the general people,” Nitish said.
On the other hand, Lalu and his close aides also started talking positively about this prospect. They feel it’s better to pursuade others than to bow down to Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP’s) Ram Vilas Paswan. “Paswan is a greedy man, he wants sweets in both the hands, which is not possible,” said a RJD leader. Lalu and Nitish were cozying up to each other with the objective of consolidating half the backward social base and thus isolating Paswan.
The LJP contested elections on its own for the first time and won 29 seats. For the first time in 15 years after the post-Mandal backward consolidation that catapulted Lalu to power, backward caste leaders such as Lalu, Nitish and Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) are worried. Last month’s Bihar elections threw up the upper castes as key players.
Sharad Yadav is also advocating the reunification of all old socialists to counter the likely revival of the Congress party and check the emergence of LJP in the state.
JD (U) and RJD strategists feel that a throwback to the pre-1990s — when power shifted from upper castes to Other Backward Classes — is necessary. The political space will then be occupied by the RJD-JD (U) versus the BJP, the latter having replaced the Congress. This suits the backward caste leaders as the BJP factor will keep the Muslims with them.
The first signs of Nitish warming up to Lalu were visible on Friday last in the Parliament. The JD (U) leader launched a scathing attack on Paswan, whom he was wooing till president rule was clamped on the state. Nitish later looked toward Congress President Sonia Gandhi and asked: “How long will you do the balancing act? You choose between Paswan and Lalu Prasad.”
Blasting Paswan’s comment that president rule had launched Bihar on the path to development, Nitish said: “Khatals (cowsheds) are being removed, cows and buffaloes are herded into trucks and taken away in the name of vikas (development)…. After the polls, Paswan said ‘the garbage has to be cleared (read RJD rule)’.”
According to insiders in both the camps, efforts are also on to split Paswan’s MLAs to “weaken the LJP and show Paswan his place”.
Lalu is extending a helping hand to JD (U) strategists. They aim to get 20 LJP legislators to merge into either party. They believe Paswan’s upper caste legislators are easy targets.
Sources said Paswan is aware of the machinations. He could pre-empt the move by expelling around 10 legislators, the sources said.
