SP, CPI plan new front in Bihar

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 14. With the notification for the first phase of election to Bihar just three days away, various parties have begun to get their act together and as things stand, the State is poised to witness a multi-cornered contest.

The Samajwadi Party along with the CPI, the CPI (ML) (L) and the Marxist Coordination Committee has decided to float a new front to fight the Assembly elections. The front partners intend to have seat adjustments among themselves though they have no intention of fighting on a `command agenda'.

The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) is expected to fight the elections with the CPI(M) as a junior partner. While the Congress(I) will contest the polls all alone, the battle of wits continues among the BJP, Samata Party and JD(U) on issues like seat-sharing and on who should be the natural claimant for the coveted post of Chief Minister.

The RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, who flew in here from Patna on Thursday night in a bid to persuade the CPI national leadership for an alliance with his party, has failed in his mission.

He returned to Patna this morning after meeting the CPI(M) general secretary, Mr. Harkishan Singh Surjeet, whose party has already decided to go for seat adjustments with the RJD.

The RJD which fought the last Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress(I), CPI(M) and the MCC will have the company of only CPI(M) as the Congress(I) has decided to be on its own and the MCC is expected to join hands with the proposed front of Samajvadi Party.

While the developments in the BJP-Samata-JD(U) camp are good news for the RJD, the decision of SP to float a new front should be a cause for concern to it.

The potency of a perfect understanding among BJP- Samata-JD(U) can be gauged from the simple fact that in the Lok Sabha elections, the combine managed to win 42 of the 54 seats. That is why the leaders of the combine are desperate to repeat the Lok Sabha experiment.

The central leadership of the BJP is meeting here on October 18 to unite the warring leaders of the JD(U) and the Samata Party. Senior leaders of the JD(U) and Samata are also expected to meet on the same day to discuss the seat-sharing.

The proposed front of the SP can only be expected to cut into the vote base of the RJD as both the CPI and the CPI (ML) (L) derive their strength from the weaker sections of the society.

The Samajwadi Party has decided to join the communist parties to `teach a lesson or two' to Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav for his reluctance to back the SP line on equi-distance against the Congress and the BJP.

The Parliamentary Board of the SP which met here under the leadership of Mr. Mulayum Singh Yadav reiterated its stand against any truck with either the Congress(I) or the RJD. In a related development, the steering committee of the JD(U) decided to explore the possibility of an electoral understanding with the BJP and the Samata Party to achieve its objective of ending ``jungle raj'' in Bihar.

``We want repeat of the Lok Sabha experiment in the Assembly elections and we will try for such an understanding till the last minute,'' Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, chairman, parliamentary board of the JD(U) said after the meeting.

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