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Vananchal bill is back in Bihar assembly, may go through this time

President K R Narayanan has sent the Bihar State Reorganisation Bill 1999, to the state legislature, where its ratification would not be difficult in the changed political scenario.

The bill for the creation of Vananchal was turned down by a majority in the state legislature when it was moved by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 1998.

Even the Congress was then vertically divided on the issue of statehood.

This time, the Vananchal bill is reaching the legislature where, barring the CPI-M, almost all political parties have assured their support. Even the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal, which had in the last assembly forced the bill to be defeated by a majority, is likely to give a positive opinion on the state's creation in order to keep the Congress on its side.

With the assembly dominated by pro-new state forces, ratification of the bill should not be difficult.

However, there may be a few amendments regarding the nomenclature of the proposed state, as a few pro-state parties are likely to move resolutions demanding the name 'Jharkhand' for the 18 districts.

Even the RJD has of late agreed to support the state's creation. The party has 123 members in house.

The separate state issue was in the centre of Bihar politics, with the state polls throwing up a hung assembly. The RJD, falling short of the required strength to form a government, went along with the Congress and announced not opposing the creation of Jharkhand.

Statehood even formed the basis of the bonding between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Soren.

The NDA, having 40 seats from south Bihar and with the support of the 12 JMM-S MLAs, is all set to form the government in the proposed state of Vananchal/Jharkhand. However, creation of the new state with the bifurcation of Bihar would push the NDA further down in the configuration of the Bihar assembly.

The Congress would face a vertical split, with 11 of its MLAs from the region becoming a part of the proposed state.

The left parties, barring the CPI-M, have supported the state's creation. The Marxists feel that instead of creating a separate state, the Jharkhand area autonomous council should be strengthened for the development of the 18 districts.

The JMM-S, which had extended support to the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar on the issue of statehood, had set a deadline of three months for its creation.

The party had called upon the Rabri Devi government to initiate immediate steps for convening a special session of the assembly for taking up the statehood bill for ratification.

UNI

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