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Bihar : Congress fails to rope in Paswan

	September 26, 2005

Bihar is going to have multi-cornered Assembly elections later this year with the Congress failing to persuade Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief, Ramvilas Paswan, to thrown in his lot with the RJD-Congress-CPI(M) front in the state. Paswan has failed in his efforts to forge a Third Front to take on both the RJD-led combine and the JDU-BJP alliance. LJP will be contesting the election in alliance with the CPI, but has failed to get the support of CPI(ML), which has sizeable pockets of influence in the state and can play a decisive role in several constituencies. Paswan’s alliance has also the support of RSP and the Forward Bloc, but these are virtually non-entities in the state.





RJD gives more seats to the Congress



The weakened position of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD in the state has been shown up by the party’s decision to allocate about 50 seats to the Congress as part of allocation of seats. In the last election held earlier this year, the RJD had refused to give anything more than 25 seats to the Congress. While the RJD will be contesting around 175 seats out of the total 243, the Congress gets 51 seats. Other minor allies in the combine, the Nationalist Congress Party has been given seven seats and the CPI(M) just eight seats.



The seat-sharing formula and the common minimum programme on which the RJD-led coalition will fight the elections were finalised at a series of meetings in New Delhi last week. The CPI(M) will not sign the common minimum programme, but will endorse it during the joint campaign for the elections to be launched by the alliance. The constituents of the alliance will have separate manifestos. The common minimum programme promises setting up a commission to bring about religion/linguistic based reservations in the State government services. To keep a section of upper castes happy, it promises to extend the benefit to the people speaking Mathili language. It also promises incentives for dalits, the core constituency of Ramvilas Paswan, and also for extreme backward classes who are resenting the dominance of Yadavs in the RJD. The Common Minimum Programme offers special economic package for Bihar rural areas, agriculture and infrastructure.



Embarrassed over the pitiful state of administration and infrastructure in Bihar, the document tries to gloss over it by promising “special aid and focused attention” from the “politically-friendly UPA government at the Centre.” To drive home a political point, the CMP promises early sanction of the pending “Bihar package,” promised by the NDA regime to compensate for the bifurcation of the state.







No action against Paswan, says Congress



The Congress has accused Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan of violating the coalition dharma in not becoming a part of the RJD-led alliance in Bihar. But the party has softened its earlier tough posture by saying that it does not link his continuance in the Central Cabinet with the Bihar Assembly elections issue. The Congress had earlier set a deadline of Sept. 23 for Paswan to clarify his party’s political line in Bihar.



Ignoring the Congress call for having an arrangement with the RJD-led combine, Ramvilas Paswan went ahead with the formation of his socalled third front to take on the RJD-Congress alliance as well as the JDU-BJP combine.



The CPI which has of late become Paswan’s chief main supporter at the Centre, had attacked the Congress for the belligerent noises from the AICC establishment.



This saw the Congress softening its stand. On whether the Congress would demand the LJP leader’s resignation from the Government as has been done by CPI(M) and suggested by RJD, the Congress spokesman clarified that it was no longer an issue with the party.



Regretting the stand taken by Paswan, Congress spokesman said it was “neither desirable, nor principled,” as a division in secular votes would benefit “communal forces.”



AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, talking separately, took potshots at Paswan for his advocacy of a Muslim Chief Minister. “Secularism does not mean a Muslim Chief Minister. If Paswan is concerned about Muslims, how come he did not have a single Muslim candidate out of the eight Lok Sabha seats he had ?





JDU-BJP inch towards finalising seat-sharing deal



On the Opposition front, the BJP and Janata Dal United (JDU) are steadily moving towards striking a seat-sharing deal for the Bihar Assembly elections. The agreement was expected to be announced on Saturday, Sept. 24, but the announcement was put off because of differences over three seats. The three seats were contested by BJP in the February elections, but were won by Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party. The BJP and the JDU have agreed that those who had won the seats on the LJP ticket would contest the same, this time also, as JDU candidates.



JD(U) parliamentary board chairman Sharad Yadav and BJP Bihar in-charge Arun Jaitley met on Saturday, Sept. 24, to give final touches to the seat-sharing arrangement. “Talks with BJP are still on and the list will be released at the right time,” JDU spokesman Shambu Srivastva said trying to downplay any differences between the NDA partners.



After the meeting, Jaitely said there is a possibility of the two parties contesting with separate manifestos. Though Srivastva asserted that there was “no dispute” between JDU and BJP over seats, sources said the two parties had been fighting over three seats with both NDA partners claiming them.



Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has said that her party will not have any alliance in Bihar and will contest the Assembly elections on its own strength. She was speaking to newspersons in Bhopal. Observers say that if Mayawati puts up a large number of BSP candidates in the Bihar elections, it may cut into the dalit vote bank, which is now primarily with Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party.





Notification for first phase of elections issued



The Bihar Governor has, in the meantime, issued the notification for the first phase of the Assembly elections, polling for which is scheduled on October 18. Sixty-one constituencies are covered in the first phase.



The Supreme Court, in the meanwhile, is hearing a public interest litigation, filed by BJP and JDU members of the dissolved Assembly challenging the dissolution and alleging malafide intent on the part of Bihar Governor Buta Singh. The apex court is likely to pronounce its verdict shortly. During the arguments, the Centre conceded that the NDA’s chief-ministerial candidate had managed to cobble together a majority, but claimed that this was done through illegitimate means such as allurement, bribery and horse-trading. Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati said that the Governor’s anxiety was not to permit distortion of the political system.



During the Solicitor General’s pleading, the Supreme Court wondered if the high constitutional office of the Governor has been reduced to party office extension. Justice Arijit Passayat quipped : “Would you agree if I say that the Governor’s office is acting as an extension of the party office ? Isn’t it a fact that the Governor’s office has largely become a political post or an appeasement post ? Otherwise, why doesn’t the various governments accept the proposal of the Sarkaria Commission.”



Earlier, Justice Sabharwal, too conveyed his disenchantment with political parties for not following the Sarkaria recommendations. The Commission had suggested that Governors be free of politics and recommended clauses like a fixed tenure of their office.



Earlier on Tuesday, Sept. 20, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, appearing for the petitioners alleged that it appeared that Governor Buta Singh was for an RJD Government or President’s Rule, and not for a third party regime in the state. He assailed the two reports sent by Buta Singh to the President. The Bench responded, saying that totally irrelevant and extraneous matters, which were not germane to the dissolution of the House, went into the making of the reports by the Governor. “How can the Governor prevent cobbling up of support to stake claim to form the Government,” it wondered.