Technocrats to get key Bihar ministries

The contract was signed in the presence of Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherji, and Madhavrao Scindia and faxed to Governor V C Pandey.

So the 22 Congress MLAs, to all of whom Laloo has reportedly promised ministries, will certainly not be getting these portfolios.

The agreement on a common minimum programme is being handled like a contract between two parties and has been signed by both leaders on every page. Both parties have agreed to constitute a coordination committee to monitor the implementation of the common minimum programme, as was done by the United Front Government and later by the NDA.

The Congress, which had vehemently opposed the RJD during its campaign for the elections, is trying to show that it plans to ensure that the Rabri regime delivers and for that reason cannot leave the administration entirely to the RJD or its own MLAs in Bihar.

The RJD and the Congress have also agreed that the state government would establish three commissions with technical experts at the helm. They will be on infrastructure, industry and finance, and their recommendations will be implemented within six months of the submission of their reports. It was decided that the commissions would be finalised with the consent of the Congress.

The contract is ambivalent on the contentious issue of Jharkhand and merely states, “The Congress party will continue to agitate for the creation of the Jharkhand state and to persuade the RJD party to find an amicable solution to achieve this objective.”

The RJD interprets this as meaning that they would be open to persuasion. RJD MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said as much. On the other hand, Mohsina Kidwai said this meant that when the Centre sent the Bill on Jharkhand to the state government for its approval, the RJD would give its consent.

The Jharkhand issue will be a tricky one for the new government. The Congress had promised the creation of a new state of Jharkhand in its manifesto. Eleven of its MLAs are from South Bihar and they won on this plank. For this reason the Congress is vulnerable and the NDA was targeting this group of MLAs when Nitish Kumar was looking around for support. Without Laloo making conciliatory noises on the Jharkhand issue, it will be very difficult for these MLAs to go back to their constituencies. As for Laloo, it will be a climbdown as he had said that the state of Jharkhand would be created over his “dead body”.

The contract also promises immediate elections to panchayats after disposal of the special leave petition lying with the Supreme Court. Local elections have not taken place in Bihar for 20 years. Laloo has, however, assured the Congress that if the RJD formed a government, it would take steps to expedite the case.

The contract contains the usual rhetoric about providing a “corruption-free administration”, giving new dynamism to agriculture, beginning the process of industrial revival, restoring financial discipline, improving the functioning of the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation and Bihar State Electricity Board and going in for their restructuring if necessary, reducing the cases of mass-scale extortions, kidnappings and atrocities and establishing a Rapid Action Force to protect Dalits.