Author: Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: May 23, 2005
URL: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/23sb.htm
"We had no option but to go with
Lalu Prasad Yadav to save the central government," a Congress negotiator,
who was part of the team that led to Sunday night's Cabinet decision recommending
dissolution of the Bihar assembly, told rediff.com
In a candid, off the record, conversation
with rediff.com, he said, "As soon as the news of a possible claim to form
the government by (Janata Dal-United leader) Nitish Kumar came in, (CPI-M
General Secretary) Prakash Karat and (CPI-M Poliburo member) Sitaram Yechuri
insisted that the state assembly be dissolved."
The Congress leaders said Railway
Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Left parties ganged up against the Congress
and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.
The Left and Lalu Yadav insisted
on dissolving the state assembly, which has been in suspended animation
since no party could form a government in Bihar after February's election.
Lalu Yadav and the Communists, the
Congress leader added, knew that if a Nitish Kumar-led government came
to power it would hit Lalu and the Left parties the most.
The Left parties swung into action
more than anybody else, the Congress leader said, adding that Lalu Yadav
intensified his lobbying with the Left to put pressure on Congress president
Sonia Gandhi. The railway minister has had a good personal equation with
the Communists for more than a decade.
Negotiations continued till 5 am
on Sunday morning to avert the dissolution of the state assembly.
The Congress did not want to take
blame for dissolving the Bihar assembly and wanted a UPA government to
be formed before Nitish Kumar met Bihar Governor Buta Singh to stake his
claim.
Time was running out, but Lalu Yadav
refused to budge.
The Congress and Ram Vilas Paswan
were on one side; Lalu Yadav and the Communists on the other.
Paswan was persuaded to agree to
a Rashtriya Janata Dal Muslim leader as Bihar's chief minister.
The man chosen for the job was Jabir
Hussain, the Rashtriya Janata Dal's leader in the Bihar legislative council.
Sonia and Paswan agreed with the choice, but Lalu Yadav was unwilling to
go along.
The Congress also tried to convince
the Communists that an RJD-led government be formed before Nitish Kumar
met Buta Singh.
But Lalu Yadav was unwilling to
accept any other candidate but his wife Rabri Devi as chief minister. The
Congress realised the negotiations had hit a roadblock and the dissolution
of the state assembly remained the only option.
The CPI-M had only one demand to
make to Sonia Gandhi: It wanted an early election in Bihar.
The CPI-M has secured a promise
from the Congress leadership that Bihar will go to the polls in September
or October, Congress sources told rediff.com
Sonia Gandhi had no other option
but to succumb to this pressure to save the UPA government, a Congress
party insider told rediff.com, adding that this decision would likely decimate
his party and Paswan's party in Bihar.
