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Bihar assembly to discuss Vananchal tomorrow

A three-day special session of the Bihar legislative sssembly opens in Patna tomorrow to discuss the Bihar Reorganisation Bill, 1998, amidst demands that Chief Minister Rabri Devi prove her majority before it is put to vote.

The bill, which seeks to carve a separate Vananchal state comprising 18 districts of south Bihar, was referred to the state legislature for its views by President K R Narayanan.

The legislative council will also meet for a three-day session beginning September 21 to consider the bill.

The state assembly had in July 1997 adopted a resolution recommending creation of a separate Jharkhand state. But the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal has since changed its stand on the issue and now opposes bifurcation of the state. The Jharkhand resolution was later withdrawn by the legislature.

The CPI-M has also decided to oppose the bill and called upon the other left parties to vote against it.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which withdrew support to the government following its volte-face, has requested Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari to direct Rabri Devi to prove her majority in the house before the Vananchal bill is put to vote.

Shibu Soren, president of the JMM-S, says the state government has been reduced to a minority following his party's decision to withdraw support.

The state Congress Legislature Party is divided on the issue, though the Congress Working Committee has declared its support to the proposed Jharkhand state. Congress legislators from the Jharkhand region are demanding withdrawal of support to the state government.

Differences over support to the bill are also visible in other parties, including the Samata Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, leading to an atmosphere of confusion. Even the RJD is faced with differences as party legislators from south Bihar have not supported Laloo Prasad Yadav's stand wholeheartedly.

UNI

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