Since it is politically incorrect to extend support to a person who has been chargesheeted, Congress president Sitaram Kesri is understood to have found a way out of the Bihar imbroglio: Laloo Prasad Yadav, no; but his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), fine.
Kesri yesterday said Laloo Yadav should himself realise the grave situation he was in, and resign of his own accord. However, he dropped enough hints during an impromptu interaction with newsmen yesterday that the Congress would have no objection to support an RJD government without Laloo Prasad Yadav.
This way, Kesri would extend support to Yadav who could perpetuate his hold over the government through a loyalist, possibly Jagdanand Singh and also silence his critics by pointing that the Congress had not supported a Chief Minister against whom a charge-sheet had been filed. This is clearly part of his gameplan to intensify the crisis within the United Front.
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Laloo Yadav should himself realise the grave situation, and decide whether he should continue in office or not. But at the same time, it should be remembered that the Congress has never entered into any alliance with the BJP. The Congress is committed to fight communalism, Kesri remarked.
The thrust of Congress responses since the Janata Dal split has been that the party has already demanded Yadavs resignation. Congress spokesman V N Gadgil repeated the stand yesterday, and said irrespective of the statements of Congress leaders on the Bihar situation, the final decision would be that of the high command.
The monsoon session of the Bihar assembly begins on July 14, when the Laloo Yadav government would face a motion of no-confidence, notice for which has been given by the CPI. The speaker has already recognised the RJD, but the party is in a minority in the 324-member house. It hopes to enlist support from the Congress, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and independents.
Gadgil said there were several options before the Congress, but the party had not discussed them yet.
When pointed out that there was barely a week before the beginning of the monsoon session in Patna, he remarked: A week is a long time in politics.