PATNA
The ruling Janata Dal (United), which had earlier made an abortive bid to split the Congress in 2017, is learnt to have launched a mission to win over at least two-thirds of the 19 Congress legislators to consolidate its position in the alliance government.
JD(U) currently has 44 members in the current Assembly while its ally BJP has 74. This is the first time in their alliance history that chief minister Nitish Kumar’s party has fewer MLAs than BJP’s.
One of the JD(U) ministers, who is said to be driving the poaching mission along with Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, confided that 10 Congress legislators had agreed to defect so far. “We are waiting for the consent of at least three more MLAs to desert the Congress in order to escape the anti-defection law,” said the minister.
Lalan Singh, who was spearheading the JD(U) effort in 2017 to split the Congress, is said to have played a pivotal role in engineering the recent coup in the Laok Janshakti Party (LJP). “He (Singh) would focus on Congress once the LJP thing settles,” said a senior JDU leader and former minister.
Rajesh Rathore, chief spokesman of state Congress, said Nitish Kumar was desperate as his government has a majority of only five MLAs in the Assembly. “With RJD chief Lalu Prasad out of jail, Kumar is uncomfortable. He is already under tremendous pressure from the BJP,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Rajesh Rathore, chief spokesman of state Congress, said Nitish Kumar was desperate as his government has a majority of only five MLAs in the Assembly. “With RJD chief Lalu Prasad out of jail, Kumar is uncomfortable. He is already under tremendous pressure from the BJP,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra, however, dismissed the JD(U) claim and said all legislators were firmly behind the party and its leadership under Rahul Gandhi. “Nitish Kumar, who has resorted to political adventurism during the pandemic to weaken his political rivals, will be disappointed yet again,” he said.
Party insiders, however, said the claim by JD(U) leaders was not totally unfounded, especially due to absence of a strong leadership in the state.
Congress veteran Kishore Kumar Jha said the party high command must resolve issues in the Bihar Congress as the state was crucial for power at the Centre. “The party has become weak over the past few decades as it relied heavily on the RJD, much to the discomfiture of the loyalists. Inordinate delay in state unit’s reconstitution and organisational restructuring up to the grassroots level are other reasons fanning unrest among the party cadres,” said Jha.
A day ago, JD(U) president RCP Singh had parried a question about possible desertions in the Congress, saying the party was like a sinking ship and hence it might continue to suffer desertions as it has done in the past.
Political analyst and former Patna University professor Nawal Kishore Chaudhary said, “Nitish Kumar does not have experience of working under pressure. He left the grand alliance once the RJD begun asserting in the matters of governance. Now, he is facing pressure from muscle-flexing by NDA constituents and Jitan Ram Manjhi and VIP leader Mukesh Sahni,” said Chaudhary.