The Hindu : PM rejects Nitish's resignation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

PM rejects Nitish's resignation

By Our Special Correspondent

Photo: S. Subramanium

Senior Samata Party leaders, George Fernandes, and Nitish Kumar, at the party's national council meeting in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI JULY 14. Factional feuds and inner-party tussles overshadowed the national-level Samata Party meeting here today, culminating in the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, resigning from the Government and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, rejecting it.

High drama preceded Mr. Kumar's offer both to the Prime Minister and the Samata president, George Fernandes.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that the offer was rejected. Earlier, the Samata national council too had turned down the letter which Mr. Kumar submitted at the meeting.

The events in the latter half of the day overtook the earlier unanimous re-election of Mr. Fernandes as Samata Party president. The meeting which began on a smooth note turned turbulent in the post-lunch session after the party MP, Prabhunath Singh, let loose a tirade against the manner in which party affairs were being run and objected to the sudden expulsion of Raghunath Jha, MP.

Mr. Singh's plain-speaking drew applause from the assembly but ruffled the feathers of some leaders on the dais. After hitting out against the party leaders, he offered to resign from the organisation if his suggestions were found unacceptable, and then walked out of the meeting to underscore his discontentment. Some other MPs, including Renu Kumari and Manjay Lal, too suggested that those expelled be taken back.

The intensity of infighting among Jharkhand Samata leaders could be felt when supporters of the State Minister, Ramesh Munda, heckled his colleague, Ramchandra Kesri, when he stood up to address the gathering.

When Mr. Kumar came to the podium as the penultimate speaker, he was unusually aggressive. Stating that he had never opposed people wanting to return to the party fold, the Railway Minister wanted party decorum to be maintained.

Regretting the lack of party discipline, Mr. Kumar objected to the charge of corruption levelled against him by the now-expelled MPs — Mr. Jha and Brahmanand Mandal. Refusing to be humiliated by senior party colleagues, he said he would keep away from government work till he was cleared by a judicial probe.

At the end of his valedictory address, Mr. Fernandes put Mr. Kumar's resignation before the council which unanimously rejected it. The re-elected party president dismissed reports of a rift between him and Mr. Kumar.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

No troops for Iraq without explicit U.N. mandate: India

Vajpayee's views clinched the issue

All hearts go out to her

PM rejects Nitish's resignation

No talks with Kanchi seer: Muslim Law Board

Former RSS chief dead

Laloo, Mishra get bail

Blast in Jakarta