Bihar Congmen Oppose Decision To Back Rabri

SENIOR CONGRESS leaders opposed to the High Command's decision to back the Rabri Devi Government have decided to organise a State-level 'Save Congress' convention at S K Memorial Hall here on April 3 to take a "considered decision" on how to save the party from extinction.

This was announced at a press conference, addressed jointly by Ram Jatan Sinha, Dilkeshwar Ram (both BPCC working presidents) and a host of senior party leaders, including Uma Pandey, Prabhavati Gupta, Sankateshwar Singh, Radha Krishna Kishore, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Vaidehi Devi, Sushila Singh, Banarsi Devi Gupta, Upendra Narain Vidyarthi and Azmi Bari. Prof Sinha said he and his colleagues would not make any move from their side to break the Congress. But he admitted he was not in a position to predict in which direction the convention might actually go.

 

Dilkeshwar Ram and Radha Krishna Kishore, both senior Dalit leaders, said they were determined to take their opposition to the 'back Rabri' move "to its logical conclusion". Mr Ram, while circulating a compilation of anti-RJD utterances of top Congress leaders during the recent Assembly elections, said it was ironical that his party had decided to back somebody whose administration was mainly instrumental in the defeat of many potentially winning Congress nominees during the recent Assembly poll.

Claiming that the Congress decision to join the Rabri Devi Government ran contrary to the agreement under which the party was required to review its performance every six months, Prof Sinha claimed Sonia Gandhi was being misled by her advisors.

Asked about the appointment of Chandan Bagchi as acting president of the BPCC, the leaders present said at a time when the party was seized with far more important matters it was immaterial whether or not they were happy with Mr. Bagchi. But Prof Sinha did point out that the BPCC acting president, CLP leader Furkan Ansari and JRCC chief Thomas Hansda were all from South Bihar.

The leaders observed that the decision was enough to wipe out the the party in Bihar.