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Bihar : Laloo may opt for early Assembly polls |
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Laloo Prasad Yadav’s party Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) has won the Siwan and Bettiah Parliament seats raising its tally in the present Lok Sabha to 21 seats. Of the 25 seats that the RJD contested in Bihar, the party won 19. RJD has two seats in Jharkhand. With the latest results, the RJD-Cong-LJP (Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan, presently Steel Minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet) alliance has 28 seats out of a total 40 seats in Bihar.
Re-polling for the Chapra seat from where Bihar’s strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav is contesting, will be held on May 31. The outcome of the byelection is a forgone conclusion, one more seat in the RJD kitty.
According to reports, encouraged by the outcome of the current parliamentary polls, RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav is now contemplating advancing the Bihar Assembly elections, due in February 2005. While the timing of the election is still uncertain, Laloo may get the Assembly dissolved soon after the Centre announces an economic package for Bihar. The package is being worked out and is likely to be announced sometime in July, probably before the Budget Session of Parliament begins. In that case, the Bihar elections could be held along with the Maharashtra Assembly polls, which are scheduled for September-October this year.
Several factors are said to be weighing on Yadav’s mind. One is the compulsion to strike while the iron is hot. Armed with a generous economic package from the Centre, for which he will take credit, Yadav would like to cash in on his Lok Sabha winning streak at the earliest. He is also aware that the BJP and Janata Dal (U) are down in the dumps after their poor performance. The underlying friction between the NDA partners is expected to intensify as they search for reasons for their defeat.
Second, after the stunning performance of the alliance he put together on the eve of the parliamentary polls, Yadav is the undisputed king of the RJD-Congress-Lok Janshakti Party combine. Now, he is in a position to call the shots in seat distribution and candidate selection.
But Laloo also has problems. Bihar Congress leaders are angry with him on two counts. One, that the party was given just four seats to contest in the state. Two, that the RJD has walked away with a huge share of ministerial berths.
Meanwhile, the pre-poll alliance between Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP and Laloo Prasad Yadav’s RJD is over, with the former accusing the RJD of ‘’sabotaging’’ the chances of its candidates in the just-finished Lok Sabha polls. Paswan is also upset that the Railway portfolio has gone to Laloo instead of him.
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