NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
There is trouble brewing for Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, with four out of his seven party members in the Lok Sabha likely to cross over to the camp of senior dissident leader Dr Ranjan Prasad Yadav.
"Laloo does not know the implications of his locking horns with me. The majority of RJD Lok Sabha members are with me, as they are fed up with his dictatorial style of functioning. Now he has to bear the consequences of running the party like a personal fiefdom," Ranjan told rediff.com.
"I, along with my supporters, have decided to boycott the two-day national executive of the party because of Laloo's autocratic ways. We are holding a meeting to chalk out our strategy to counter Laloo's forcible strangulation of our workers," Ranjan maintained.
The battle lines between the Laloo and Ranjan camps have been clearly etched following the former's recent removal of the latter as RJD working president.
Laloo removed Ranjan as party working president, on the plea that there was no provision for the post in the party constitution and that it was purely a temporary arrangement.
However, Ranjan Yadav gradually built up a following and has even managed to rope in Laloo's 'tempestuous' brother-in-law Aniruddha Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav and RJD chief's erstwhile trouble-shooter Mohammed Shahabuddin, the party MP from Siwan.
While both Sadhu and Shahabuddin have frequently blown hot and cold against Laloo on political issues, the RJD chief had swallowed his pride and gone out of his way to placate both of them, especially his brother-in-law, who has political ambitions in Bihar.
Significantly, Sadhu and Shahabuddin recently met Rajan in Delhi after exchanging hot words with Laloo in Patna. However, the crafty RJD chief pacified both, after which they are maintaining a low profile.
But what could prove a serious political challenge to Laloo is the fact that out of the seven RJD members in the Lok Sabha, four are staunch followers of the Ranjan camp with Shahabuddin's loyalty to Laloo having a big question mark.
A senior RJD Lok Sabha member said his party colleagues in the House, Nagmani, the RJD MP from the Chhatra constituency, Mohammed Anwarul Haq from Sheohar, Sukhdeo Paswan from Araria and Ram Prasad Singh from Ara are with Ranjan.
"At least the four of us will vote against the causes espoused by Laloo in the Lok Sabha," he pointed out.
On whether the clash between Laloo and the Ranjan camps meant the latter proferring a hand of friendhip to the ruling National Democratic Alliance, the RJD MP said, "No."
"Our fight is with Laloo, where does the NDA come into the picture," he asserted.
He also denied talk in parliamentary circles that the four RJD MPs, at Ranjan's behest, had given their commitment to support the Vajpayee Government on various issues, as a snub to the RJD chief.
RELATED REPORT Showdown likely at RJD meet
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
