Bihar Cong divided over Rabri

PATNA, April 14: The Congress in Bihar appears sharply divided on continuance of support to the minority Rabri Devi government with those lo...

PATNA, April 14: The Congress in Bihar appears sharply divided on continuance of support to the minority Rabri Devi government with those loyal to former Congress president Sitaram Kesri deprecating the quot;majority movequot; to dissociate from the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD. The two-day visit of a high-level team headed by former AICC general secretary, Sushil Kumar Shinde, to assess the reasons for the party8217;s quot;not so impressive performancequot; in the Lok Sabha poll brought into focus the differences in the party on continuing support to the Rabri government, heavily dependent on Congress for survival.

Shinde, whose brief included suggesting steps for revitalising the moribund party in the electorally crucial state, admitted to mediapersons that the majority of Congressmen advocated severing of ties with the RJD.

Shinde8217;s visit also offered an opportunity to the detractors of State Congress president, Sarfaraz Ahmed, demanding his removal for the party8217;s debacle at the hustings.

Before concluding hisvisit yesterday, Shinde said he would submit his report tomorrow to party president Sonia Gandhi on whether the party should continue its alliance.

The dominant section of Congressmen led by Ahmed, have favoured snapping of ties with RJD saying it would harm the long-term interests of the party. Addressing newspersons on Sunday, Shinde too admitted that though the party had gained marginally from the alliance with RJD in the Lok Sabha elections, persisting with it would not help the party in the long run.

He said polarisation of anti-Laloo votes in favour of BJP-Samata combine coupled with sharp division of votes along caste lines had led to the party8217;s quot;unimpressive showingquot;.

However, party insiders believe that given the quot;fragile naturequot; of the ruling coalition at the Centre, the Congress high command may not take such a drastic step as withdrawing support to RJD government in Bihar as RJD8217;s support would come in handy for Congress in forming its government in the event of the fall of Vajpayeeministry.

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The Congress, which had only two members from Bihar in the last Lok Sabha increased its tally to five this time and political analysts attribute it to the adjustments the party had with RJD.

All the five seats won by the Congress in the Lok Sabha poll were those it had contested in adjustment with the RJD, which together with Congress and Shankersinh Vaghela8217;s Rashtriya Janata Party won 23 of the 54 seats.

Even the Congress working committee member, Tariq Anwar, whose visit to Bihar coincided with that of Shinde8217;s, ruled out the possibility of severing ties with RJD and favoured continuance of the alliance to communal forces at bay.

Anwar, a protege of Kesri, according to party sources, is orchestrating a campaign for removal of the incumbent BPCC president.Slogan-shouting supporters of Rajya Sabha member, S S Ahluwalia and former Bihar ministers Ramjatan Sinha and Shyam Sunder Singh Dheeraj, greeted Shinde and his team at Sadaquat ashram, the State party headquarters, last Sunday seekingAhmed8217;s removal.

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The agitated Congress workers were curtly told by Shinde to disperse and were assured that the party leadership would be apprised of their view.Congress sources said the Kesri-Anwar duo was plumping Dr Shakeel Ahmed, the newly elected Lok Sabha member from Madhubani as new state party chief.