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Bihar Congressmen want Sonia to back President's rule

Tara Shankar Sahay in Patna

In a desperate effort to make Sonia Gandhi endorse the imposition of President's rule in Bihar, local Congress satraps have told her failure to do so would make the party the 'biggest loser' among the key players in the state.

A senior party official close to Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sadanand Singh told Rediff On The NeT that the state leadership told Gandhi in one voice that the party had to play a 'positive role' during the ratification in Parliament. "If our party votes in favour of President's rule in Bihar, we will be the biggest gainers. If it does not, we will be the biggest losers," the Congress politician pointed out.

He claimed that the state unit was virtually begging the party chief to endorse central rule in Bihar "by going down on our knees to show our desperation". But Gandhi is still keeping her cards close to her chest, he claimed.

Local Congressmen's enthusiasm for central rule in Bihar and the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government stems from their perception that the party's victory in the recent assembly elections has boosted its political stock, especially among the people of Bihar.

As Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, a son of the soil who is close to state officials, pointed out, "The people here wanted the lawless Rabri government to go. Now that it is history, the people of Bihar are looking forward to the dissolution of the state assembly and fresh elections."

Congressmen perceive the Bharatiya Janata Party-Samata Party combine as a lesser evil compared to Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, which they prefer to see eclipsed for good.

Asked to underline the high command's continuing indecision on central rule, the local Congress politician felt it could be her apprehension that endorsement of the move could be seen as joining hands with the saffron brigade. He underscored the party chief's misgivings that this could trigger a backlash against the Congress since the RJD is seen as a votary of secularism.

Significantly, Laloo Yadav has instructed his MLAs to go to the districts and prepare for elections. This morning, the RJD began a meeting to chalk out its strategy.

His wife's dismissal has made Laloo Yadav more aggressive than before. He is openly threatening state administration officials, especially senior police officers, that he will get even with them once his party returns to power. Two deputy superintendents of police came in for special treatment at the Gandhi Maidan area in Patna yesterday when the RJD chief, in front of reporters and the media, berated them for arresting his party workers during the bandh yesterday.

But BJP leaders like Chandramohan Rai pointed out that the RJD chief's bravado was to camouflage his pain over the loss of political power. Rai said the BJP's C P Thakur lost the parliamentary election because of large-scale rigging by the RJD government. But when a repoll was held to the Patna parliamentary constituency amid tight security by central forces, Thakur won easily.

The RJD leadership knows well that a prolonged spell of President's rule in Bihar will wreck the party, and that is why Laloo Yadav and his followers are so restless, Rai added.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has also reiterated that central rule in Bihar is only a stop-gap arrangement. The BJP leadership feels that since it promised a change in the state government in its election manifesto, the people will now be pleased and reward it when fresh elections are held.

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