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Sonia's unscheduled stop in Patna breaks the monotony of protests

Sorooor Ahmed in Patna

Sonia Gandhi came, stayed, and flew back from Patna -- perhaps the only non-event on a day that witnessed protest marches, dharnas and rallies protesting the federal government's recommendation that President's rule be imposed in Bihar.

The Congress president was in the state capital not in connection with political developments, but with a view to visiting the flood-ravaged districts of north Bihar. However, a technical snag grounded her craft, and ensured that she stayed put in Patna for a few hours.

The visit -- which all concerned went out of their way to declare as non-political in nature -- did, however, raise a lot of speculation. Playing it safe, Sonia steered clear of meetings with local leaders.

Rabri Devi sent a garland, Sonia and Laloo Yadav exchanged greetings, a couple of state-level Congress leaders got to say hello, but that was about the sum of her interaction.

Meanwhile, the rejection of Laloo Yadav's bail plea by the Supreme Court has come as a bit of a damper to the ruling combine. Laloo, nothing fazed, led protest marches on the main thoroughfares of Patna, and effigies of the state governor, senior BJP and Samata Party leaders were burnt under his aegis.

The BJP-Samata Party combine meanwhile showed distinct signs of back-pedalling. While state BJP president and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Sushil Kumar Modi maintained that the law and order situation in the state was beyond repair, the party leaders made it a point not to harp too obviously on the dismissal demand.

Changing tack, the BJP-Samata combine trained its guns on Laloo Yadav's extra-constitutional status in the state government.

However, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha has, thus far, done a good job of countering the BJP-Samata offensive. When law and order became the issue, the RLM took the help of the National Crime Research Bureau statistics to show that crimes rates are highest in states ruled by the BJP. And when Modi brought up the Laloo Yadav issue, the RLM promptly demanded to know what Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's status was in the Maharashtra government.

Silenced in open forum, the BJP, however, has not curtailed its behind the scenes activities. Senior party leaders say they expect the Rashtriya Janata Dal to split. This, however, seems a tall order as, given the numbers, the BJP needs at least 76 MLAs of the ruling party to break away if an alternative government is to be formed.

Within BJP circles, however, optimism prevails. To such an extent, in fact, that the names of Modi and of Railway Minister and Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar are being floated as likely candidates to be the next chief minister.

Janata Dal leader Ram Vilas Paswan, making an end run, has taken a vociferous stand against the Rabri Devi government -- indicating that as a powerful Dalit leader, he will seek his own pound of flesh in the event of an alternate government being formed.

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