Laloo Banking On Kesri For Support

Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav hopes to utilise his relationship with Congress president Sitaram Kesri and secure the support of Congress MLAs in the state Assembly to remain in office since a sizeable chunk of Janata Dal legislators are expected to convey their loss of confidence in him to Governor A R Kidwai after the July 3 Janata Dal chiefs election.

Highly-placed sources in the Congress and the state unit of the Janata Dal said the only hurdle to Laloo Yadav securing the support of Kesris legislators was a possible arrest by the CBI. The possibility was hotly debated in political circles yesterday with CBI joint director U N Biswas stating that the scope of his arrest has not been exhausted yet.

The Chief Ministers bail application is to come up in the Patna High Court today. The CBI is also scheduled to inform the court of the progress in the multi-crore fodder scam. The CBI is treading cautiously on the issue of Laloo Yadavs arrest due to the Centres opinion based on intelligence reports that that the arrest would result in large scale trouble.

Activities related to the party chiefs election on July 3 proceeded as per court orders. Yesterday, observer Madhu Dandavate finalised the list of voters after removing the names against whom objections were filed. The list was sent to all state capitals, even though loyalists of Laloo Yadav declared that they would boycott the election since the list was bogus.

A senior Janata Dal leader said effort would be made to ensure that a Janata Dal government is in office in Bihar after Laloo Yadavs removal. Why should we lose our partys government, he remarked. But he admitted that it was easier said, since Laloo Yadav was resourceful enough to enlist support from independents and others to compensate for the loss of dissident MLAs.

The game of numbers in the state Assembly is being discussed animatedly. In the 324-member house (the majority mark is 163), the Janata Dal has 168 MLAs, and enjoys the support of eight independent MLAs. Laloo Yadavs supporters admit that the dissidents numbered around 50, recalling that 42 MLAs had attended Sharad Yadavs meeting in Patna early this month.

But the Chief Ministers key managers have already cast their net wide. They are confident of support from the Congress, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the CPI (after a split among the 26 party MLAs) and independents. They only hope he is not arrested before the change of the governments complexion, since Kesri would not like to be seen supporting someone who has been arrested.

Laloo Yadavs supporters held meetings throughout the day yesterday, and appeared resigned to a split. This would mean the resignation of Union ministers Kanti Singh, Jainarain Nishad and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. A couple of Janata Dal legislators from Karnataka are said to be with this faction.