SP dissidents for tie-up with Paswan's outfit

By Our Special Correspondent

PATNA, DEC. 31. The dissidents in the Samata Party are heading for a showdown with the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, over the issue of the party's merger with the Janata Dal(U) of Mr. Sharad Yadav, Union Civil Aviation Minister.

Led by the State Unit President, Mr. Raghunath Jha, MP, the dissident group comprising mostly Lok Sabha members held a meeting here today to chalk out their course of action. No decision could be taken as Mr. Kumar hastily announced a meeting of the newly elected district presidents and delegates of the State Council to elect the new State president and members of the National Council, which is scheduled to meet in Karnataka obviously with a view to stem the rot for the time-being.

The crucial State Council meeting will be held on January 5 ahead of the two-day National Council meeting on January 8 and 9. Consequently the dissident MPs decided to hold yet another meeting on January 2 in Delhi to decide on their strategy with respect to the State council meeting and take a stand on the merger issue.

The other reason why these dissident MPs developed cold feet could well be the fact that not all of those expected to make common cause turned up today. As against the projected presence of 7 to 8 Lok Sabha MPs, only four of them made it to the meeting point.

The dissidents, mostly MPs, were peeved over the resolution adopted by the Samata Legislature Party favouring a merger with the JD(U) and authorising Mr. Kumar to take necessary steps and decision in this regard, particularly because the idea was shelved when the issue was broached at a meeting with the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, a week earlier.

The dissidents question the rationale of the merger issue on the reasoning that it served little to join hand with Mr. Sharad Yadav when it was clear that to the Yadav community, in general, the RJD president was the sole leader. They favoured a tie-up with the Telecommunications Minister Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, who has since split with the JD(U) and floated his own party, the Lok Janshakti, opening up the scope for fresh alignments.

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