A Yadav vs Yadav battle for JD post

Clearly Laloo’s efforts at hammering out a consensus in his favour failed as his rival Sharad Yadav sabotaged any move in that direction. The two leaders met for a while yesterday evening but failed to agree on anything. It was the first one-to-one meeting between the duo after both upped the ante in the run-up to the party polls.

The crux of the disagreement is simple: Laloo Yadav is keen to hang on the party post as he is uncertain about his Chief Ministership following his being listed as an accused in the multi-crore Bihar fodder scam. At least this is what he is telling party colleagues in an effort at being elected president of the Dal. On his part, Sharad Yadav feels that his post of working president has no standing in the JD’s constitution and he should now be elevated as a proper president.

In such an atmosphere, both Laloo and Sharad Yadav met several top leaders of the Janata Dal today to plead their case. Some of the leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan, former Premier H D Deve Gowda and current Prime Minister I K Gujral played hosts to the rival camps today.

However, nothing positive emerged from the parleys and the leaders were resigned to late night politicking which could well extend to tomorrow when the nominations close by 5 pm. Indications were that Laloo Yadav is almost certain to stake his claim and Sharad Yadav is also likely to file his papers.

Should this happen, the Janata Dal would truly mirror the Congress which is also caught in a web of inner party intrigue. Laloo Yadav’s terse comment today was an admission of the intense politicking in the Dal. “We have not finalised the PAC meeting’s schedule so far. As and when it will be held, we will let you know,” he told waiting mediamen at the New Bihar Bhavan. At the same venue yesterday, Laloo was a different man, confident and sure about his prime position in the party.

Today, his swagger was gone as Sharad Yadav’s machinations seem to have given him something to think about. And in the clash of the two Yadavs, Gowda, who was pushed into relative obscurity by Laloo Yadav, bided his time today. Gowda was engaged in sundry parleys of his own, mainly with party leaders from Karnataka.

There were some feelings from the Karnataka faction that a compromise candidate, apart from the two Yadavs, be chosen as party chief. But this too appeared unlikely with the numbers game not favouring a nominee from the South in a party heavily banking on its northern membership.

All that Gowda would say was that he was not a candidate. Sharad Yadav too preferred to be tight-lipped refusing to comment on the Dal’s organisational polls. The party has to elect its new leader by June 10.With the Bihar unit of the JD split between Laloo and Sharad Yadav, the focus was on the rest of the party leaders who could swing it either way. The JD has faced elections to the party president’s post in 1984 and 1986 but this is the first time two high profile candidates are in the race. The efforts so far are to avoid an election but this will be clear only tomorrow.