The United Front appeared divided yesterday on whether the Laloo chargesheet issue and the womens bill should be discussed in the Fronts steering committee meeting, scheduled on Sunday.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad is facing demands for resignation over the CBIs decision to charge him in the fodder scam. While the Left parties appeared set to raise the Laloo issue, others felt it would be premature to discuss it.
The roles were reversed on the womens bill issue, where Left leaders have said there is nothing to discuss on the Bill as the Front was unanimous in backing 33 per cent reservation for women. But parties like the Janata Dal, DMK and the Samajwadi Party, who want sub-quotas for OBCs and Muslims, want a full-fledged debate in the steering committee.
More From This Section
The committee is meeting for the first time after the installation of the I K Gujral government last month. The meeting is shadowed by the chargesheet against Laloo. Though the CBI sought permission from Bihar Governor A R Kidwai to charge Laloo two weeks back, it is still waiting for the Governors response.
A non-Left UF source said his party would not like the Laloo Prasad issue to be discussed. Why should we assume he would not resign? Why give moral lectures to a national political party. Lets take up the issue when it is required..., he said.
In his view, whatever be the reason behind Kidwais delay, the fact is that so far there is no charge against the Chief Minister.
On the other hand, a steering committee member from a Left party insisted that the matter was bound to figure at the meeting. Laloo Prasad is not only the national president of the Janata Dal, which is part of the UF, he is also the Chief Minister of a state. Already the matter has become a national issue, he said.
The Left leader expressed regret that the Janata Dal has taken no stand on the issue and was causing embarrassment to other Front partners by keeping quiet on the issue when the whole country was talking about it.
The sharp differences among Front partners on the womens reservation bill are also likely to be reflected at Sundays meeting. Most UF leaders feel the issue is gaining such political proportions that the steering committee cannot skirt it. Already, three important constituents of the Front have spoken in favour of including OBC and Muslim quota in the proposed 33 per cent reservation for women.
While the Samajwadi Party and the DMK have taken the view that the OBCs and Muslims should get representation, the Janata Dal has become a divided house with various senior party leaders on different sides on the issue. The Janata Dal appears to be the only party in the Front which does not have a common view on both the issues: Laloo Prasads resignation and the womens reservation issue. The problem is compounded by the fact that neither the partys political affairs committee nor the parliamentary party has held a single meeting ever since the new government was installed.
Only Left wants Laloo to quit, says Bommai
Press Trust of India CALCUTTA
Senior Janata Dal leader and Union human resources development minister S R Bommai yesterday said that except for the Left parties no other constituents of the United Front had demanded resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, for his alleged involvement in the fodder scam. Admitting that a section of the party MLAs had demanded Yadavs resignation, Bommai told reporters here Janata Dal is the most democratic party. Yes, some MLAs were against Yadav, but the party will take a decision only if the charge-sheet comes through. Asked wheteher Yadavs refusal to step down was denting his image as well as that of the party, he said you please go to Bihar, see the attendance in his meetings.
and you will find out.
You cannot presume that Prasad is involved in the scam. He has not been chargesheeted yet, what if the Governor does not give his sanction, the former Janata Dal president asked.
The Janata Dal, however, would take a decision on the matter only after Yadav was charge-sheeted in the case, he said.
Referring to his decision to step down from the post of the Janata Dal president after being named in the hawala scam, Bommai said I had resigend on moral grounds, however, perception varies from person to person.