Cracks Appear In Bihar Jd

Cracks appeared in Bihar Janata Dal (JD) yesterday following Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadavs stand of not quitting office even as the Left parties resolved to launch a concerted stir for his ouster in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) decision to prosecute him in the fodder scam.

Reacting to Yadavs assertion that he will not resign, a senior member of the state cabinet and former state party president, Ramai ram, said, Laloo Prasad is not the supreme authority in the Janata Dal. We are waiting for the Dals Political Affairs Committees (PAC) decision on the issue.

Ram, a camp-follower of Union railway minister Ramvilas Paswan, said that the PAC was likely to meet in New Delhi to deliberate on the issue of seeking the Chief Ministers resignation.

Ram, who reportedly has the backing of a section of party legislators in the race for Chief Ministership, said, It is for the legislature party to decide who would be their leader in the event of the Chief Ministers resignation.

Asked whether Yadav should have resigned after the CBI decision to implicate him (the Chief Minister) in the multi-crore fraud, the minister for rural development said, It has to be decided by the Chief Minister. Why should I unnecessarily poke my nose in such affairs.

To another question as to whether he was in the race for the chief ministership, Ram said that it is for the JD Legislature Party (JDLP) to take a decision.

Everything will be done in accordance with the resolution of the PAC. Please wait and watch, Ram added.

He, however, parried a question on Mondays meeting of the JDLP expressing solidarity with the defiant Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, dissident activities have intensified following Mondays visit by Paswan, a close confidante of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, to the state capital.