EDITORIAL

Bihar: Act II, Scene I

The political drama of the absurd has entered the Act II Scene I with the swearing in of the RJD leader and former chief minister Rabri Devi as the 30th chief minister of Bihar following the resignation of the NDA leader from chief ministership on the eighth day in office without facing the trust vote in the legislative assembly.

The failure of Nitish Kumar to secure the required majority support naturally caused loss of face for governor Vinod Chandra Pande. It is true that Rabri Devi did not have majority support at that time as the Congress support came later and her incumbent government had lost the majority in the general election signifying the rejection by the electorate.

Now with the expressed support of the Congress (23), CPI-M (2), RCP (2), BSP (5) and MCC (1), the RJD (123) command at least 160 MLAs including some Independents. Prospects of Rabri Devi winning the trust vote on March 16 have brightened as a coalition government with an agreed programme is being formed and the RJD supremo, Laloo Prasad Yadav has declared that the new government would rectify some of the mistakes of the past and provide a stable administration with emphasis on law and order. The BSP and the CPI(M) would support from outside without participation in the government. The Congress is divided on the issue of joining the cabinet. There is a strong feeling among a section of the Congress leaders against participation in the Rabri Devi government because of the uncompromising plank of the party for ending Laloo-Rabri "jungle raj" in Bihar during the polls. Another section in the Congress favours sharing power in the state for keeping the government on the correct rails and giving Congress activists the taste of governance. The BSP has given conditional support by stressing banning of the Ranvir Sena, the private army of upper caste Bhumihar landholders.

The CPI with five and the CPI(ML) with six members are not expected to support Rabri Devi as they committed themselves in the just concluded elections to oppose both the NDA and the RJD. So, they are unlikely to sacrifice their political initiative for Left consolidation as a third force when the CPI(M) has squandered the opportunity of playing such a role by identifying itself with the RJD.

In this background, a coalition government with the participation of the Congress and a common minimum programme has become a near-certainty as most of the Congress MLAs want cabinet berths as the price for supporting Rabri Devi.

The RJD’s volte-face on the Jharkhand/Vananchal issue to secure the crucial support of the Congress has introduced a new element in Bihar politics with Laloo Prasad Yadav getting an opportunity to open a line of communication with the 12-member JMM(S) while at the same time creating deep discontent in an influential section of RJD leaders of North Bihar who are committed to oppose separation of Jharkhand. But the discontent on this score is unlikely to jeopardise the Rabri Devi government initially. On the other hand, Laloo Prasad Yadav has started moves to rope in more MLAs from other parties to the rescue of the RJD-led government. The presence of the Bihar People’s Party chief Anand Mohan and his wife Lovely Anand at Rabri Devi’s swearing-in has fuelled speculation about the possibility of the sole MLA of the BPP getting a cabinet berth.

The astute politician that he is, Laloo Prasad Yadav understands the ground realities and caste-class equations in his home state and as such he is very keen to broaden the support base of the new government for facing the onslaughts which are bound to come within few months. So, he may like to persuade the BSP supremo Kanshiram to give clearance to his party to join the government. However, the close interaction of the coalescing parties in Bihar is also bound to create more problems than sorting out the main issue of keeping Rabri Devi in power.