Months after he presided over the revival of the Samata Party by a section of Janata Dal(U), Brahmanand Mandal has been stripped of the presidency of the party. Mandal’s removal was announced by party General Secretary Shiv Kumar after a meeting of the party’s national executive at Vithalbhai Patel House on Tuesday.The Samata Party was revived by the supporters of senior JD(U) leader George Fernandes, including Jaya Jaitly, in January after he fell out with Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Fernandes, however, has stayed away from the outfit to protect his Lok Sabha membership. Given the current speculation over the prospect of a snap Lok Sabha poll, Fernandes would obviously need a platform for himself.Shiv Kumar said Parliamentary Board Chairman N K Singh, a former CBI director, has been chosen as the acting chief. The national council will meet on October 31 to hold election for the party president’s post. He claimed 20 of the 40 national executive members were present at Tuesday’s meeting. Of the rest, at least half have left the party, he added.Spelling out reasons for Mandal’s ouster, Shiv Kumar said the party had not been functioning. Mandal, according to him, had not called a single meeting of the national executive for three years though he was required to do so once in six months. “No one knows how many officer-bearers are around or how many members of the national executive have left the party,” he said. “The party is on the verge of elimination,” he said, adding “At a time when an early election to the Lok Sabha poll appears inevitable, it is imperative that we put our house in order.” When asked why the party had chosen to overlook Jaitly and appointed Singh, the General Secretary said, “She is not a member of the national executive.”
