Centre instructs Kidwai to deal firmly in Bihar
Tara Shankar Sahay in Delhi
The Union government has asked Bihar Governor A R Kidwai to
deal firmly with lawlessness in the state if Laloo
Prasad Yadav's supporters create mayhem. The instructions went out
as observers apprehended the chief minister's imminent arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged involvement in the fodder scam.
Bihar, the chief minister had said earlier, would burn if he was arrested
in the fodder scam on what he calls "charges trumped-up by his jealous
detractors."
Yadav meanwhile secured some relief on Monday
when the Patna high court adjourned till Tuesday the hearing on
his petition for anticipatory bail.
A senior government official pointed out that Kidwai's meeting
with high-ranking home ministry officials -- including Home Minister
Indrajit Gupta on Monday -- during the last three days indicated
that the governor has been asked to deal firmly with lawlessness in Bihar
if Laloo Yadav is arrested and his supporters go berserk.
However, the official said Kidwai had not yet submitted
any report to the home ministry that the law and order situation in the
state had broken down. Therefore, the official stressed, the question
of President's rule being clamped in Bihar soon was remote. He
added that the ruling United Front leaders are in any case deeply divided over
the imposition of Article 356 -- dismissing the state government and enforcing
central rule -- in the state.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Laloo loyalist
M A Fatmi demanded that H D Deve Gowda should resign
as chairman of the UF steering committee because of his
''nexus" with communal forces.
Taking up cudgels on Laloo Yadav's behalf at a press conference in the capital on Monday, Fatmi said the Bihar chief minister was a mass leader with strong
secular credentials. The fact that Deve Gowda was striving
for Laloo Yadav's removal as chief minister, Fatmi added, proved that
he was in league with communal forces.
Both Deve Gowda and CPI-M General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, he claimed, were determined to settle scores
with Yadav. Fatmi alleged that Deve Gowda had met Shiv Sena leader
Bal Thackeray and had entered into a secret understanding with the
Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
Fatmi also alleged that Surjeet had become ''Mr Gorbachev
for the Front.'' "While the Soviet leader had played a role in breaking the
Soviet Union," he said,"Mr Surjeet is acting towards breaking the Front.''
Fatmi's press conference defending Laloo Yadav and attacking Deve Gowda indicated that the chief minister's supporters are trying to marshal as much support
for the Bihar leader as possible.
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