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

Angry Bhandari set to resign

Manoj Bhadra in Patna

In a dramatic turnaround, Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari has decided to relinquish his office.

Sources said the Bharatiya Janata Party high command is trying to persuade Bhandari, a senior leader of the party, not to resign, but he is unlikely to relent.

Obviously piqued and humiliated by Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's announcement that Bhandari would be replaced by an apolitical administrator, the governor is leaving for New Delhi by the Rajdhani Express this evening to confer with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani tomorrow.

The Patna Raj Bhawan witnessed hectic activity today with several senior BJP politicians, including Kailashpati Mishra and Leader of the Opposition in the suspended Bihar assembly Sushil Kumar Modi calling on Bhandari in a vain attempt to persuade him not to leave.

Bhandari is not the only one threatening to resign. Two BJP members of Parliament, Madan Jaiswal and Dhirender Agarwal, have also threatened to quit in protest against the proposed change of the Bihar governor. Bhandari, they said, is the best man for Bihar.

Sources said a revolt is brewing in the party's Bihar unit on the issue. Bihar BJP politicians say Bhandari is the best man to govern the state at this juncture.

They are all pinning their hopes on Prime Minister Vajpayee to ensure the party does not lose face in Bihar.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report