Bihar Congress Urges Sonia To Support Jharkhand

Congress leaders from south Bihar have warned the party leadership against opposing the Vajpayee government's proposal to grant statehood to Jharkhand.

The government plans to table the Bill during the winter session of Parliament.

A delegation of the leaders met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary in charge of Bihar, Madhavrao Scindia, this week. Former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay and former PCC president Sarfaraz Ahmed led the delegation.

They urged the party leadership to take an unambiguous stand on the Bill since the BJP would otherwise take all the credit.

The Congress is already weak in north Bihar.

They demanded that the Congress move an amendment to change the name of the proposed state from Vananchal to Jharkhand.

Some other non-BJP parties have also demanded the state be called Jharkhand.

Gandhi and Scindia assured the delegation that the party's commitment to the creation of a separate Jharkhand state was total.

The Congress leadership is under pressure from its Bihar unit, which is dominated by leaders from the north, not to take a clear stand on the division of the state.

These leaders, close to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, have also been lobbying with the party high command for a Congress-RJD alliance for the Assembly by-elections due in November.

The delegation, however, said the Congress should not ally with the RJD at least for the Kodarma Assembly seat, which is in the Jharkhand area. The RJD is clearly identified as anti-Jharkhand.