Rabri Devi likely to have smooth sailing

PATNA, MARCH 15: With the absence of even a token protest from the NDA, the Rabri Devi Government would have smooth sailing tomorrow when ...

PATNA, MARCH 15: With the absence of even a token protest from the NDA, the Rabri Devi Government would have smooth sailing tomorrow when her government seeks the vote of confidence.

Since almost all senior NDA leaders are in Delhi, the job to register protest against the Rabri Devi Government has been entrusted to BJP’s Sushil Mody. He has been busy convening meetings of the NDA allies and chalking out a strategy.

NDA sources said with the senior leaders nourishing divergent opinionson the action of the Governor in inviting Nitish Kumar to form the government, once again bickerings have appeared in the top echelons of the NDA.

Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan are in Delhi. No senior leader is in Patna to help the State leaders. The demoralisation is so acute that even the Independents, who had joined the NDA in the wake of the confidence motion, are in the mood to cross over to the RJD.

Some NDA leaders say the situation is in a flux and the presence of senior leaders could have helped them.

The main problem for Laloo is the demand of the Congress legislators to make all of them ministers. A source close to Laloo said the Congress legislators conveyed to him that he should make his position clear before the confidence vote.

Highly placed sources in the RJD said that Laloo is trying to contact some JD (U) legislators to neutralise the threat of the Congress legislators. The JD (U) legislators are still not forthcoming about their stand but the attempt to win them over is in full swing from Laloo’s side.

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Meanwhile, the State executive of the CPI has decided today to vote against the RJD government on the confidence motion.