ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Samata threatens to launch civil disobedience in Bihar

The Samata Party today stepped up pressure on the Centre to send back to the President the Union Cabinet's recommendation to dismiss the Rabri Devi government in Bihar and resolved to launch a civil disobedience movement in the state.

After a day-long meeting of the Samata national executive committee in New Delhi, general secretary Jaya Jaitley said the party has urged the government to send the recommendation back to President K R Narayanan, though the Cabinet has held it back for the time being in deference to his wishes.

The party, in a strongly worded resolution, said the people of Bihar were feeling helpless seeing the Laloo-Rabri regime getting a breather.

It said only a paralysed body of people would wait for the next election to rid themselves of tyranny and asked its state unit to prepare for a peaceful civil disobedience movement.

All parties seeking dismissal of the Bihar government would be persuaded to join the struggle, it said.

The meeting presided over by party chief and Defence Minister George Fernandes, was attended by 61 of the total 75 executive committee members.

The leaders deliberated at length the spiralling prices of essential commodities, the grim flood situation, international terrorism, increasing incidents of rape, and the party's plans for the assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.

Expressing concern at the rising prices, particularly of vegetables, the party decided to hold 'bridle the prices' conventions from the first week of November to evolve a common view for a foolproof strategy to keep prices in check. The conventions will be attended by partymen, farmers, intellectuals, and others.

The party also discussed threadbare its strategy for the assembly elections and decided to tie up with the BJP. Jaitley said the BJP had agreed to an alliance in Rajasthan and talks for Delhi are in progress.

The meeting was attended by only eight of the party's 12 MPs. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and Digvijay Singh were conspicuous by their absence. But Jaitley said they could not attend for unavoidable reasons.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report