Laloo Factor Sows Seeds Of Political Re-Alignment

The steadily growing antagonism between Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and some of his United Front colleagues, including Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, has laid the foundation for a new political alignment in the Hindi heartland, which will most likely be inimical to the United Front.

For the moment, these are only undercurrents which may not surface unless the Janata Dal reaches breaking point or the Gujral government falls and general elections become imminent.

Laloo Prasad has already initiated efforts to consolidate anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and anti-Mulayam Singh forces in Uttar Pradesh. He is said to have received a positive response from Ajit Singh of the Bhartiya Kisan Kamgar Party (BKKP). The state JD unit, which has been consistently complaining of `maltreatment' by Mulayam Singh is also said to have opened a channel of communication with BSP supremo Kanshi Ram. The Dal is reportedly hopeful of striking a deal with the BSP if its uncomfortable arrangement with the BJP breaks down.

 

Laloo Prasad is known to share a close rapport with Congress (I) president Sitaram Kesri. Therefore, political analysts do not rule out the possibility of the Congress joining an anti-BJP, anti-Mulayam Singh platform if Laloo can rope in the BSP as well. The Congress has steadily lost ground in UP and cannot hope to credibly contest elections there on its own.

Significantly, the Bihar Chief Minister, who was in Lucknow last week-end, called upon the BJP to allow Mayawati to continue as Chief Minister of the state even after the end of the six-month tenure after which she is to hand over power to a BJP nominee under the BJP-BSP power sharing agreement.

Simultaneously, Ajit Singh has also opposed Prime Minister I K Gujral's plans to attend a Mulayam Singh rally in Lucknow on June 19, in which his party is set to demand the dismissal of Mayawati.

Former Prime Minister V P Singh has not been actively involved in the ongoing power tussle in the Janata Dal. On Saturday, Singh denied that he had ever spoken of an imminent split in the Dal. V P Singh is still close to Laloo Prasad, according to Dal leader and Singh acolyte, Som Pal. V P Singh's antipathy to Mulayam

Singh dates back to the days when they were in opposite camps in UP politics.

In Bihar, the realignment is already taking shape. Mulayam Singh has joined hands with the Left parties in an `oust Laloo' campaign. The Samata Party, which is aligned with the BJP, is separately campaigning against Laloo but its key Kurmi leader, Nitish Kumar, has indicated that he could return to the United Front once it sheds Laloo Prasad.

Although this formation is likely to harm the BJP in the two states