Uncertainty gripped Bihar today as a split in Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP prompted key players to intensify attempts at government formation and the Home Ministry, taking note of the swift developments, sought a report from Bihar Governor Buta Singh on the situation there.There’s buzz that if the UPA fails to iron out differences within and get the numbers right, it will seek dissolution of the Assembly. That will not only be a face-saver but scuttle plans of the NDA which, after the LJP split, thinks it has a good chance to form the government in the state.In New Delhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil held separate meetings with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and Paswan while police in Patna turned out in large numbers and put up roadblocks on the roads to Raj Bhavan. Bihar Home Commissioner A K Biswas said that they had sought extra police reinforcements to maintain law and order.NDA moves to muster the numbers had the UPA clearly worried. LJP rebels, willing to back JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar as the chief minister, have been flown to Ranchi in NDA-ruled Jharkhand and shifted to a safe haven in Ghatsila.Paswan could manage to parade only 10 of his 29 MLAs in New Delhi. Three were flown to Delhi on a chartered flight by LJP general secretary Surajbhan.Aware of his dwindling numbers, Paswan held an hour-long meeting with Congress leader Harikesh Bahadur to discuss a ‘‘proposal’’ on government formation in Bihar.He was clearly under pressure to relent and agree to a RJD or a Congress-led government. ‘‘I have no objection whether RJD gives inside or outside support so long as it is a Muslim chief minister,’’ Paswan said.Bahadur said, ‘‘Everything is under consideration and we want a UPA government. Whatever the UPA constituents decide will be acceptable to the Congress. We expect a decision soon.’’ Laloo Prasad Yadav, whose party asked Buta Singh not to entertain any NDA claim to form the government, threatened to file an FIR against ‘‘horsetrading’’ and ‘‘wrongful confinement’’ of MLAs. He said MLAs were ‘‘being bought just as cattle is sold at the Sonepur mela (in Bihar).’’In Patna, the high alert for police and para-military forces has given rise to speculation that something dramatic is in the offing once Buta Singh returns from Delhi.Both Paswan and Laloo have conveyed to the rebel MLAs that their efforts to cross over to the NDA will be useless if the Assembly is dissolved. In Patna, the RJD criticised the NDA for trying to engineer a split in the LJP. NDA leaders, meanwhile, alleged that Buta Singh would go to any length to stop the formation of a JD(U)-led government. The Governor has already charged the NDA with attempts at horse trading and made it clear that he would not allow such a thing. Aware that LJP rebels could invite the anti-defection law, the NDA is trying to make its case foolproof before making any claim at government formation. ‘‘We will stake our claim only when two-third members of the LJP split and support us,’’ said JD(U) leader Upendra Prasad Kushwaha.
