THE simple north Indian fare at former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda's residence on June 18 belied the festive mood of his luncheon guests, Janata Dal working president Sharad Yadav and his supporters. Sixteen hours earlier, Bihar governor A.R. Kidwai had sanctioned Laloo Prasad Yadav's prosecution in the fodder seam, delighting the anti-laloo faction (of which Gowda is a leading light) and giving Sharad a decisive edge in the race for Janata Dal presidentship.
Over fruit, the senior leaders decided that Sharad would demand Laloo's resignation as Bihar chief minister on that very day, while they pressurised prime minister I.K. Gujral to take forceful action. Sharad's call would serve as a rallying point for the anti-Laloo camp in Bihar.
The following day, the spirits of the Sharad faction sealed; the Supreme Court ruled that the Janata Dal presidential poll, which Laloo as the incumbent was seeking to postpone, be held by July 3 under the stewardship of senior party leaders Madhu Dandavate and S. Jaipal Reddy. In any one-to-one contest, Sharad, with the electoral college in his pocket, was bound to triumph-particularly if Laloo was no longer Bihar chief minister. It looked as if Laloo would be divested of both the chief ministerial and Janata Dal president hats. "We'll stand by him in his hour of trouble," said Sharad magnanimously, to underline his insurmountable advantage.
But over the next couple of days, the magnanimity waned perceptibly as things didn't work out quite as Sharad had planned. While Gujral obligingly ousted Laloo-loyalist and seam-accused minister Chandradeo Prasad Verma, thus sending a signal to Laloo that he should quit, he refused to come out openly against the Bihar chief minister. In this, he was not alone. To Sharad's frustration, no senior Janata Dal leader seconded his demand for Laloo's resignation. Not even Union railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who confined himself to oblique statements that there should be "no compromise with corruption".
Sharad was particularly upset with Gujral and party stalwarts like Dandavate, Reddy and Surendra Mohan, and is reported to have said: "People who talk about high principles in public life should seek to enforce them as well". A Sharad loyalist fumed:
"Gujral darpok hai. He is scared of Deve Gowda. He fears that if Laloo were to quit the Janata Dal, he would be at Gowda's mercy."
Gowda's open attack on Gujral at the United Front's steering committee meeting on June 16 emphasised the less-than-amiable relations between the two. Hinting that Gujral was protecting a prominent newspaper proprietor facing FERA Violation charges, he followed it up with an oblique salve against the Central government during Samajvadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's
hullabol rally on June 19, where he threatened to go on a hunger strike if it did not rectify the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. Gujral's studied neutrality on the Laloo issue was the result of his feud with Gowda, said a senior party leader.
Laloo's threat to force a split in the party and float a regional outfit has sent ripples of disquiet through the Janata Dal leadership. "If he is deprived of both the chief ministership and the presidentship of the Janata Dal, what is left for Laloo in the party?" asked an MP close to Laloo. Paswan countered: "Gowda has been both chief minister and prime minister. Should he have left the party when he was asked to step down?" While the Gowda faction was quite willing to call Laloo's bluff, the 'neutral' or pro-consensus group was not that sanguine. "Sharad wants the party in his pocket at any cost, even if it is reduced to a pudiya," said a Laloo supporter.
A Janata Dal cabinet minister pointed out that Laloo still had a strong mass base in Bihar and a split would put paid to the party's future prospects in the state. The other compulsion, he said, was that even the loss of half-a-dozen MPs would further attenuate the position of an already defensive Janata Dal within the United Front coalition. Not surprisingly, at a meeting of Janata Dal ministers called by Gujral on June 20, the consensus faction warned against pushing Laloo to the wall. At the same meeting, Gujral sought reports from the cat and Intelligence Bureau directors regarding the possible fallout of the current crisis on the law and order situation in Bihar. It was decided that if at all Laloo was to be arrested, it would be at the direction of the court. Senior leaders discussed the possibility of the Bihar government being dismissed if Laloo refused to quit, but felt only "a serious law and order problem" could justify the move.
For its part, the Left refused to remain a mute witness to the Janata Dal drama; he joined the Opposition in demanding LalooP ouster and criticising the prime minister for not acting against him. The CPI(M) Said it would raise the issue of Laloo's removal from chief ministership at the UF steering committee meeting on June 27, as the issue had gone beyond the Janata Dal and was affecting the image of the United Front government as a whole.
While the consensus-seekers urged that Laloo be permitted to continue as Dal president if he quits as chief minister, Sharad was in no mood for a compromise. Even as Laloo's men considered an appeal against the court order on the party presidential poll, Sharad pointed out that it would be contempt of court not to hold the elections now. For the moment, it appears as if, with the judiciary, the Left and the bulk of the party leadership on his side, Sharad has the upper hand. But even his supporters admit that he is apprehensive of future developments and reportedly commented: "If the Janata Dal election had been held on June 10 as scheduled, the current crisis would never have arisen." Maybe this self-doubt will give Laloo some hope.
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