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Theatre of the absurd unfolds in Bihar

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

In the ongoing war between Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Yadav and leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Sushil Modi of the BJP, no holds -- not even religious ones, apparently -- are barred.

Thus, Yadav declared that his party would, on the 7th, 8th and 9th day of Dussehra, set about exposing the 'fascist and communal designs of the RSS and, on the 10th day of the festival which celebrates the triumph of good over evil, the RJD would immolate (one presumes he meant in effigy) the likes of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes.

For his part, Modi insists that the Laloo Yadav-Rabri Devi regime will go to a watery grave on Dussehra day.

Not that this is the only front the war is being fought on -- Yadav has already announced a month-long campaign, spearheaded by the Rashtriya Loktantarik Morcha, against spiralling prices, contamination of mustard oil and, not incidentally, the Centre's action against the Rabri Devi regime.

Modi, meanwhile, is teeing off on the Congress and Left parties for the fuss they are making now over the use of Article 356. That Article, Modi points out, has been used 110 times in the 51 years of India's Independence, so where were the Left parties and the Congress then, demands the BJP leader heatedly.

All told, it is a battle royale in Bihar. Or -- judging by some of the incidents -- a non-stop performance in the theatre of the politically absurd. Thus, Laloo Yadav late on Thursday evening staged an impromptu padyatra through the streets of Patna. And simultaneously, the wives of ministers in the Rabri Devi cabinet took out their own procession -- armed with brooms.

Joe Citizen, meanwhile, is the biggest sufferer. With rumours doing the rounds that President K R Narayanan may take many more days to eventually decide on the fate of the Bihar government, the administration is in a state of virtual paralysis.

Nothing gets done in the various government offices, and the common man seems inclined to share the blame for this state of affairs between the ruling RJD and the Opposition BJP-Samata combine.

Infighting, meanwhile, has flared up within the Janata Dal ranks, with the state unit seeking the immediate dismissal of the four leaders who met the President on Wednesday and requested him to reject the Centre's recommendation.

State party leader Mangani Lal Mandal was particularly harsh on former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, charging him with propping up the Rabri Devi government in the state last year. On Thursday morning, Mandal came up with another salvo -- apparently Gujral, a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, had given the wrong address in his nomination papers. And this, says Mandal, suffices to get the former PM disqualified.

The most interesting aspect of the situation, though, is that while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha was short on confidence in the days preceding the central decision to ask for President's rule, the cabinet recommendation, when it finally came, has actually served as a shot in the arm.

Curious? Perhaps. But then again, easily explained when you consider that the development has had the effect of unifying its own cadres, of getting the Congress and Left parties four squares behind it, and even more importantly, of causing a split within the BJP alliance itself over the issue of imposition of President's rule.

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