Samata sticks to guns on RS seat

There is more to what meets the eye in the BJP-Samata face-off over the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha by-election.Unlike the Manipur episode, where ...

There is more to what meets the eye in the BJP-Samata face-off over the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha by-election.

Unlike the Manipur episode, where Defence Minister George Fernandes had given the BJP a tough time after the ouster of the Samata-led coalition of Radhabinod Koijam, there is not even a murmur of protest from the NDA convenor.

On the other hand, second important party leader and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar is unduely belligerent. This obviously signals a lack of coordination between the two.

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Since the Samata, with just five members in an 81-member Assembly, has a weak case for claiming a RS seat, the by-election obviously camouflages something much bigger. It could mean a future ministerial reshuffle at the Centre of the beginning of a parting of ways for Fernandes and Nitish, culminating in a re-alignment of forces in Bihar.

Central BJP leaders refused to comment on the Samata action, while asserting that the party nominee, state party president Abhay Kant Prasad, will stay in the contest. However, Nitish was highly critical of Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi. He told mediapersons here that the BJP should have realised that the Samata was only demanding the seat held by it. ‘‘This affected relations and we are pained,’’ he said. He blamed the ‘‘coterie’’ around Marandi for the impasse. He said Samata leaders had quit the ministry as they were not ‘‘slaves’’ of this ‘‘coterie.’’

Given the fact that the Jharkhand Samata MLAs owed their allegiance to Nitish, their extraordinary aggressiveness synchronised well with his tone and tenor. Taking the fight forward, these MLAs, at a Ranchi meeting, pledged their support to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Shibu Soren in the Dumka Lok Sabha by-election against the BJP. However, they stopped short of withdrawing their support from the Centre. The legislators, who were all ministers, quit the government last Saturday.

The Dumka by-election, caused by Marandi’s resignation, was slated for May 31. The meeting was attended by national Samata general secretary Mangni Lal Mandal and central executive member Rajiv Ranjan ‘‘Lallan.’’

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Sources in the Samata indicated that the party was unlikely to give it up over the RS seat. It was exploring the possibility of securing the support of other Opposition parties accounting for a total of 36 votes in the 81-member House. Left with 40 votes without Samata, the BJP could still sail through by drumming up support from other parties by causing defections.