Power equations shifting in Samata?

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG 19. A subtle shift is underway in the Samata Party with a section of the party MPs gravitating towards the Railway Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, who at present is the only Cabinet Minister from the party in the NDA Government.

The process began after senior party leader, Mr. George Fernandes, resigned from the Cabinet in the wake of the Tehelka tapes expose.

It got accentuated recently after the manner in which the party leadership handled the problem of the Minister of State, Mr. Digvijay Singh, over change of portfolios.

Apparently, a section of the MPs are upset over the importance accorded by the leadership to Mr. Digvijay Singh, who at first kept away from taking charge as the Minister of State for Commerce and then subsequently reclaimed the portfolio as Minister of State for Railways.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, had changed portfolios of some Ministers of State last month. However, Mr. Digvijay Singh was upset with the shift from Railways to Commerce, since he was expecting to get External Affairs.

After some resistance, he did assume charge in the Commerce Ministry and soon got additional charge as Railways.

Incidentally, the party's move to accommodate Mr. Digvijay Singh in Railways once again was not communicated to the senior Samata leader and the Railways Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar. This too has added to the differences. On Independence Day, Mr. Nitish Kumar hosted a lunch in honour of new Samata Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Dayanand Sahay, after which he and Mr. Fernandes sorted out matters.

During January-February this year nearly half of the 12 party MPs, including Mr. Raghunath Jha, Mr. Prabhunath Singh, Mr. Brahmanand Mandal, Mr. Manjay Lal and Mr. Arun Kumar, had rebelled against a move for merger of the Samata and the Janata Dal (United).

Just before the party was to elect a new president, these MPs opposed the merger plan favoured by Mr. Nitish Kumar. The timing suggested that more than the merger, their opposition was related to party elections. At least four of these MPs who were considered close to Mr. Fernandes are now said to be aligning with Mr. Nitish Kumar.

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