Bihar — Coordination committee to oversee CMP implementaion

Party sources said this was done to put an end to the "transfer industry" in the State which has assumed gigantic proportions and had seriously crippled governance. Now, as per the agreement, all routine postings will be done in the normal course, after which there will be a moratorium on postings and transfers for a specific period.

The cabinet sub-committee, comprising Chief Minister Rabri Devi, the Finance Minister, Congress CLP leader Furkan Ansari and the minister of the department concerned will decide transfers in special cases and key posts.

Apart from Laloo, the coordination committee will have four members from the Congress, three from the RJD and one each from other alliance partners Bahujan Samaj Party, Maoist Coordination Committee (MCC), CPM and Krantikari Communist Party.

All these arrangements were worked out at a meeting on Thursday night between Laloo and senior Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Madhavrao Scindia, Mohsina Kidwai and Ajit Jogi.

While the allotment of portfolios is expected to be made public by the Chief Minister, party sources said the Congress had cornered most of the ministries concerning dealing with the public. These reportedly include agriculture and power, two of the three key ministries the Congress wanted technocrats to head. The Home and Finance ministries are, however, expected to go to the RJD.

All the 22 MLAs of the Congress in Bihar have been made ministers, with 10 holding cabinet rank. The task of portfolio allotment is not going to be easy as the Chief Minister has to accommodate 82 ministers.

Following the agreement, the Congress and the RJD would soon chalk out a detailed development programme which will include time-bound projects for the State. This is a follow-up to the general CMP drawn up earlier.

About the Congress stand on the creation of a separate Jharkhand state, party spokesperson Ajit Jogi said the party was committed to the formation of the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

Meanwhile, Laloo met President K R Narayanan on Friday and demanded immediate recall of Bihar Governor V C Pande, accusing him of "misusing the Raj Bhawan for political gains."

After the meeting, Yadav told reporters that Pande was dancing to the tune of the Vajpayee Government and had thrown all democratic norms to the wind by ignoring the RJD’s claim to form the government.

"I have come to Delhi to thoroughly expose the Governor and the BJP-led government at the Centre who are committing all sorts of injustice against a woman Chief Minister," Laloo asserted, adding that he would take up the matter with the National Commission for Women and the National Human Rights Commission.