After split, Dal shows leniency to dissidents

Chief minister Nitish Kumar appears to have become lenient towards the JD(U) dissidents after the party parted ways with the BJP. he deputy leader of the JD(U) in Lok Sabha, Ranjan Prasad Yadav, recently petitioned the Speaker withdrawing the party’s earlier application for disqualifying three of its MPs — Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, Sushil Singh and Mangani Lal Mandal — on the grounds of anti-party activities during the last Assembly polls. “Now the chief minister wants everyone, including minor activists, expelled and suspended back on board,” said a JD(U) leader. The forgiveness is not bearing much fruit on the dissidence front, though. Mangani Lal Mandal appears determined to contest the next Lok Sabha polls on the RJD ticket. Another JD(U) MP, Pooranmasi Ram, denounced the Nitish government in public for the police firing in Bagaha. Ram has also expressed his wish to contest the next Lok Sabha polls on a ticket other than that of the JD(U)’s.

Bitter truth in public place

Several MLAs and MPs of the former alliance partners meet each other in closed rooms after the split. But Manish Kumar, the JD(U) MLA from Dhoraiya in Banka district, surfaced at a BJP function and addressed the audience. He declared that he was against the split of the alliance partners and had become the MLA of the constituency twice because of the efforts of the BJP workers. The JD(U) leaders appear to be in a fix over their MLA’s act. “What he did was definitely anti-party but we cannot afford to take disciplinary action at this stage because we have a thin margin in the Assembly,” said a senior JD(U) MLA. The main worry of the party is that over 50 party MLAs had met Sharad Yadav on June 16, urging him not to snap ties with the BJP. “What happens if other MLAs follow Manish?” wondered another JD(U) leader.

Missing nothing

A principal secretary of a department earlier headed by a BJP minister was recently asked if he missed his former boss. “My former minister will be missing me more than I do,” said the official. The bureaucracy is like that. “As long as you are in the chair, the officials will treat you like a king. Once you are out, you are less than nothing to them,” said a former BJP minister. “When Nitish came from Delhi as the chief minister designate in 2005, the officials who stood on their toes for Lalu stopped his car from going to the airport until Nitish reached his destination,” he added.

From hero to villain

Senior BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy’s “villain” barb at chief minister Nitish Kumar has amused the JD(U) leaders. “I am sure I can give instances of Rudy describing Nitish Kumar as a hero before the alliance broke down,” a JD(U) MLA told one his friends in the BJP. “It is like when we were allies we were not communal. After the split, we are communal,” said the BJP leader. Politicians are hardly known to stick to their views. “They keep changing according to time and situation,” said a seasoned politician.