Having already taken their fighting to a new low, the two Samata Party factions are in a dilemma, not knowing what to do next. The melodrama consequently continues, only compounding the confusion.A day after he announced his resignation, Railways Minister Nitish Kumar stayed away from office today ignoring an appeal by party president and Defence Minister George Fernandes to retrace his steps.Technically speaking, Kumar had nothing to do in case he decided to withdraw his resignation—Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had already turned down his request.Nitish indicated no early end to the crisis today, when he told journalists: ‘‘The circumstances which forced me to submit my resignation have not changed. There is no question of taking back my resignation. It should be moved forward.’’Fernandes, re-elected to the top party post, did not progress beyond saying: ‘‘I desire and hope Nitish will reconsider his decision and take back his resignation.’’ His 45-minute discussion over the telephone had apparently dawn a blank.Replying to the charge that he was ‘‘encouraging’’ indiscipline in the party, Fernandes admitted that indiscipline was indeed a major problem. He said that he felt ‘‘helpless’’ as in “anybody can say anything and anybody can abuse anyone in the party.’’Implying that resignations were not a new phenomenon in the Samata Party, he said, ‘‘Nitish has resigned earlier also. Even I have resigned once. Other ministers have also resigned. We have gone through ups and downs and kept the party alive.’He ruled out any replacement of Kumar in the ministry saying that there was none else in the party other than Kumar for the job.A journalist asked Fernandes if the party was heading for a split. He shot back: ‘‘You (media) have been trying (for a split) for a long time, but could not succeed.’’ Another journalist asked him if he would take a disciplinary action against the three MPs who were demanding that the expulsion of the two MPs, Raghunath Jha and Brahmanand Mandal. He responded with a counter-question: “Disciplinary action will be taken against how many people?. I feel disciplinary action should be taken against me too. I am the party president. The ultimate responsibility is mine.’’He admitted that some Jharkhand ministers, by praising Laloo Prasad Yadav at the national council meeting, had committed an act of indiscipline.Nitish, on the other hand, did not appear to be itching for a split in the party, but seemed inclined to keep rocking the boat. He said, ‘‘I will not assume any party post, though I will continue to support Fernandes.’’ Kumar maintained that he had no differences with Fernandes, whom he considered the best choice for the party presidency.
