The Hindu : RS polls and changing political equations in Bihar, Jharkhand

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Friday, Mar 29, 2002

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RS polls and changing political equations in Bihar, Jharkhand

By K. Balchand

PATNA MARCH 28 . The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar and Jharkhand are a clear indication of the realignment of political equations that are in the offing, the impact of which, significantly enough, are bound to be inversely related in the two States.

By successfully supporting the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president, Shibu Soren, the BJP has gained at the cost of the RJD-Congress alliance in Jharkhand. The Babu Lal Marandi Government has weakened the Opposition, besides ensuring an additional support for the party in the Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority.

Contrarily, the BJP is a sufferer in Bihar with a split in the NDA votes, thanks to the support the JD (U) and the Lok Jan Shakti (LJS) lent to the expelled RJD MP, Ranjan Prasad Yadav, who in vain contested as an independent. The rupture, in this case, is to the advantage of the RJD-Congress Government.

The fact that the JD (U) and the LJS supported Dr. Yadav is a pointer that the latter had come close to these parties and it might not be long before he joins one of them in the near future. The timing, of course, would depend upon the decision that these two parties make about severing their relations with the BJP at the Centre. Immediately after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Ram Vilas Paswan was emphatic about his party (LJS) not having any relations with the BJP henceforth in any elections.

Mr. Paswan is not only disillusioned with the BJP but has no love lost relation with the Samata Party leader and Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar.

The fact, however, is that their immediate objective of causing a flutter in the political circles, particularly in the camps of the RJD, BJP and the Samata were thwarted by the RJD supremo, Laloo Prasad Yadav. During yesterday's polling, it became explicit that Mr. Laloo Yadav had taken upon himself the responsibility of ensuring the victory of the five ``official'' candidates and defeat his once dear friend, Dr. Yadav.

Notwithstanding Mr. Laloo Yadav publicly expressing his surprise over Dr. Yadav's ``unexpected'' show, the former actually had assessed the situation to the finesse and formulated his strategy to counter the moves made jointly by the latter with the support of the JD (U) and the LJS.

The root of Mr. Laloo Yadav's success was his ability to keep the level of dissidence within his party to the same level that had caused him pinpricks almost a year ago when he was forced to expel Dr. Yadav to defeat the attempt to pull down the Rabri Devi Government. Since he started with a base of 19 votes of the JD (U) and the LJS, Dr. Yadav polled an additional 11 votes of which at least three belonged to the BSP, according to political sources. If the claim that two Independents had also voted for him, the cross voting from the RJD was by about six MLAs.

The RJD chief entered the fray to rub off any soft-corner that any of his other legislators might have had for Dr. Yadav and also saw to it that none of his legislators recorded any second preference vote, which is actually what sealed Dr. Yadav's fate. The RJD supremo might well have turned a certain victory into a defeat for Dr. Yadav and denied him a third term in the Rajya Sabha.

Both the BJP nominee, Shatrughan Sinha, and the Samata Party candidate, Bashisht Narain Singh, benefited either indirectly or Mr. Yadav's open generosity.

Soren rules out ties with NDA

UNI reports from Ranchi:

The newly-elected Rajya Sabha member and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo, Shibu Soren, has ruled out any political alignment with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the State, saying, ``we would continue to oppose the NDA politically.''

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