BJP torpedoed Tariq's name for Bihar CM

The name of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar was proposed for the chief ministership of Bihar last week as the one name that would unite all the anti-Lalu Prasad forces in the state, but Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar's inability to get the Bhar-atiya Janata Party (BJP) to accept it torpedoed the proposal.

Taking off from there, Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan today revived consultations with like-minded parties for the formation of a government in Bihar by constituting a committee.

Senior LJP leader Ranjan Yadav will head the committee, which has Paswan's brother Pashupati Paras, former state party chief Narender Singh, former Union Minister Nagmani, leader of the LJP Legislature Party in Bihar Ramashraya Prasad Singh and Maulana Ghulam Rasool Baliabi as members.

For the record, Paswan reiterated his position that the committee would talk to the JD(U) only after that party severed its ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

But Paswan, sources said, apprehended some move by the United Progressive Alliance government to try and instal Lalu Prasad as chief minister and wanted to ensure that no one strayed from his stable to help the Centre's endeavour.

Last week, Nitish Kumar prepared a common minimum programme around which he hoped opposition to the Rash-triya Janata Dal would coalesce and the political logjam in Bihar would be resolved. But this alone proved inadequate in resolving the political impasse created by a hung Assembly.

Then, consistent with his demand that a Muslim should become Bihar chief minister, Paswan proposed Anwar's name for the top post because it represented the lowest common multiple of opposition to Lalu Prasad.

Paswan told Nitish Kumar during talks: "Kabhi kabhi paudhe ko bada karne ke liye khad banna parta hai (To nurture a plant, sometimes you have to turn into fertiliser)."

Anwar would have been acceptable to the BJP-JD(U) combine because once the NCP had extended tacit support to the NDA, the Congress would have found him acceptable because the NCP is an alliance partner in Maharashtra.

This could have been part of a settlement in Maharashtra. The CPI(ML), which has seven legislators in Bihar, would have had no significant objection to Anwar as well.

A flurry of meetings followed, including a chance encounter between Paswan and Nitish Kumar at a function to observe the formation of the Lorik Sena; and a meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

But Paswan's suggestion - to replicate the HD Deve Gowda model for Bihar would have worked only if the BJP had fallen in line and agreed to support Anwar from the outside. This did not work out.

Within the JD(U), opposition came from Munazir Hassan, an MLA who questioned Nitish Kumar's efforts to project himself as chief minister and prevent the government formation, especially when he was fully cognisant of Paswan's bottomline""that the chief minister should be a Muslim.

All that led to the collapse of talks between Paswan, Nitish Kumar and the other non-RJD parties, last weekend, and the stalemate continued, UPA sources said.