NDA convener and JD(U) leader George Fernandes is certainly fishing in the UPA’s troubled waters. First, he made public overtures to a disgruntled UPA ally, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav after the latter came under fire from the Congress in the state. Now it is the turn of yet another disenchanted ally, Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, to get Fernandes’ hand in friendship in Bihar.Fernandes and his colleagues in JD(U), Sharad Yadav and Digvijay Singh, and BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad, have called up Paswan several times on a possible alliance with his Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) for the Bihar Assembly polls in February next year. Sources say the NDA leaders promised to make Paswan chief minister if the JD(U)-BJP-LJP alliance comes to power.NDA leaders are aware of Paswan’s disappointment and feeling of betrayal with his partner in the state, RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. Though Paswan had a fruitful alliance with the RJD for the Lok Sabha elections, relations became strained after victory. Paswan felt cheated because Laloo walked away with the Railway Ministry that he desperately sought. Though Paswan ran from pillar to post and met important leaders to plead his case, he ended up with the low-profile steel, fertilisers and chemicals portfolio.Stung, the LJP leader declared the alliance with Laloo Yadav, which was ‘‘restricted only to the Lok Sabha polls’’, was off. He also ruled out a future alliance with the RJD, unless it was renegotiated. But the state elections, slated for February 2005, have renewed the prospects of a realignment of political forces.Though the JD(U) and BJP are barely recovering from their debacle at the Lok Sabha polls, they are certainly working overtime to isolate arch rival Laloo Yadav in the state. ‘‘JD(U) leaders have been meeting and talking to Paswan all along, acutely aware of the inherent contradictions in the alliance with Laloo Yadav. George and Sharad Yadav are only sharpening the differences between the two Bihar leaders,’’ a party source said.Differences have also cropped up between the Congress and its allies in Bihar. Sources said while the Congress and Paswan want the elections to be held as scheduled next year, Laloo Yadav would like to cash in on the current wave that brought him to power in the Lok Sabha polls.The Congress, sources say, wants to cash in on the goodwill after its victory in the parliamentary elections and recoup in Bihar so that it is in a commanding position to bargain for seats in the coming state polls. Last time, it had to eat humble pie, and face the humiliating offer of just four seats for the Lok Sabha polls. ‘‘The Congress is on a revival spree in both UP and Bihar,’’ says an NDA source. ‘‘And like Mulayam Yadav, it is only a matter of time before Laloo comes under attack from the Congress.’’
