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Dissociate from Rabri, Congress panel advises Sonia

George Iype in New Delhi

Buoyed by its victory in the assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is now planning to withdraw support to the Rabri Devi-led Rashtriya Janata Dal government in Bihar.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had told three senior leaders -- Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tariq Anwar, and Madhavrao Scindia -- to review the party's support to the Bihar government, especially after RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav was arrested in connection with the fodder scandal.

The trio has submitted a report recommending withdrawal of support to the state government because of the corruption charges against Laloo Yadav and the chief minister's failure to check the deteriorating law-and-order.

Urging Gandhi to act fast, they have stated that a majority in the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee favours dissociating from the government at the earliest.

"In the changed political context, we feel there is no need for the Congress to continue supporting Rabri Devi," Azad told Rediff On The NeT. The Congress Working Committee member said party workers in the state "are demoralised because many feel that our support to Laloo Yadav is not on ethical grounds".

"There is no need for the Congress to be associated with parties like the RJD as Sonia has charted out a new course of action for the party after last month's assembly victories," he added.

BPCC president Sadanand Singh and Bihar Congress Legislature Party leader Ramasray Prasad Singh met Gandhi in New Delhi today to consent to the move to withdraw support to the RJD government.

While the withdrawal of support by the Congress, which has 29 members in the Bihar assembly, is unlikely to lead to the immediate fall of the government, analysts believe it will be the beginning of a realignment of regional parties at the national level.

Congress sources said that having decided not to pull the rug from under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Gandhi's priority is swift action in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

North India's chief regional satraps Laloo Yadav and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, who unsuccessfully tried to force Gandhi to oust Vajpayee, have drifted away from the Congress, especially after last month's elections.

Mulayam Singh has already declared that his foremost enemy now is not the Bharatiya Janata Party but the Congress, and he is on a village-level campaigning spree across Uttar Pradesh "to expose the passive role of the Congress" in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

On the other hand, Gandhi's strategy is to strengthen the party and go for a mid-term poll next year without aligning with parties like the RJD and SP. Congress politicians say decisions on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the first steps in that direction.

They disclosed that efforts are on to compel the breakaway Loktantrik Congress Party to pull out of the Kalyan Singh-led coalition government in Uttar Pradesh. "We feel the fall of the UP and Bihar governments will help the Congress regain power in the two politically important states," one said.

"The Congress also needs to cut into the backward-class vote banks of the SP and RJD," he said, adding that last week's decision to reserve 33 per cent party posts for women and 20 per cent for weaker sections will significantly help in this attempt.

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