I have been a keen watcher of socialist movement in India in general and Bihar in particular since the first general election of 1952. Over the years I could study the politics of R.M. Lohia, J.P. Narayan, Acharya Kripalani, Hem Barua, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lohiaite products of post-Emergency like R.V. Paswan, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi and others. The most perceptible trait of these political leaders has been that each of them is a leader in himself resulting in the continuous erosion of party discipline and its resultant repeated truncations. We know that the Emergency compelled the main non-Congress political parties to come together under the umbrella of Janata Party, sponsored by JP. The word Janata became so popular that despite several fragmentations of the party, the name of every group retained it, like Janata Party, Janata Dal, JD/U, JD/S, BJP and RJD. The remnant Janata Party, headed by Subramnian Swamy finally merged with the BJP and today there is no political party of this name.
Another trait observed in these earstwhile socialists is that at the time of elections they come together and part ways immediately after that as everyone could not be made a minister. If we leave these old aspects, we can add a new one that all of them have developed strong faith in family rule for which they had been chastising Nehru-Gandhi family. You may refer to Mulayam, Lalu, R.V. Paswan and some others. It has been stretched so much that when Lalu had to resign, ignoring qualified party leaders including Prof. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, he installed his illiterate wife as the new incumbent. In the last parliamentary election, SP in UP could win only five seats and all of them happened to be of Mulayam family. In the last assembly poll in Bihar, Lalu got his both sons elected and both of them are in the ministry, the younger being the DY CM. Moreover, Lalu has plans to send his wife and daughter to the Rajya Sabha.
These being the charesterics of socialist brand leaders, the Bihar watchers like me, made a forecaste that both Nitish and Lalu had joined the Great Alliance to say goodbye to one another before long as the clash of interests was bound to be there. Nitish wants to cling to chief ministership at any cost and Lalu goes out of proportions to prove that he is the real boss.
The information is there that the revenue collection in Bihare is much below the target. The developmental projects are held up for want of fund. The govt. is persuading the Centre to release the funds assured in course of electioneering. The Centre on the other hand is reluctant to oblige as it is afraid that the Nitish govt might divert the money to other use like giving payment to its employees. The sufferers of earlier RJD rule’s jungleraj were forecasting that Lalu’s victory would usher in jungleraj part ii, which has already ensued. The murder of three engineers connected with road construction has made the investers wary. The overall law and order situation is already worsening.
In this background, there is an unannounced war between Lalu and Nithish to prove who really matters. Nitish has plans to experiment mahagathbandhan of like minded parties in other states so that in 2019, he could emerge as a strong PM prospectl. On the other hand, at no cost, Mulayam is inclined to give this space to anybody else. In Bihar, despite being disqualified for electoral posts by the SC, Lalu has started spreading his wings to project himself as the super CM. He not only directs his both sons to abide by his dictates but also goes on surprise visits of public institutions to monitor their performance. The local BJP leaders have taken an objection to these unparliamentary developments and urged upon Nitish to compel Lalu to behave. We remember that before the election, when Lalu was criticizing BJP and JD/U, Nitish had warned him to remain within limits as he was a convict, out on bail. It is unbelievably true that the same CM has to meekly tolerate the same Lalu assuming bigger than a life size proportion of super CM.
Another trait observed in these earstwhile socialists is that at the time of elections they come together and part ways immediately after that as everyone could not be made a minister. If we leave these old aspects, we can add a new one that all of them have developed strong faith in family rule for which they had been chastising Nehru-Gandhi family. You may refer to Mulayam, Lalu, R.V. Paswan and some others. It has been stretched so much that when Lalu had to resign, ignoring qualified party leaders including Prof. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, he installed his illiterate wife as the new incumbent. In the last parliamentary election, SP in UP could win only five seats and all of them happened to be of Mulayam family. In the last assembly poll in Bihar, Lalu got his both sons elected and both of them are in the ministry, the younger being the DY CM. Moreover, Lalu has plans to send his wife and daughter to the Rajya Sabha.
These being the charesterics of socialist brand leaders, the Bihar watchers like me, made a forecaste that both Nitish and Lalu had joined the Great Alliance to say goodbye to one another before long as the clash of interests was bound to be there. Nitish wants to cling to chief ministership at any cost and Lalu goes out of proportions to prove that he is the real boss.
The information is there that the revenue collection in Bihare is much below the target. The developmental projects are held up for want of fund. The govt. is persuading the Centre to release the funds assured in course of electioneering. The Centre on the other hand is reluctant to oblige as it is afraid that the Nitish govt might divert the money to other use like giving payment to its employees. The sufferers of earlier RJD rule’s jungleraj were forecasting that Lalu’s victory would usher in jungleraj part ii, which has already ensued. The murder of three engineers connected with road construction has made the investers wary. The overall law and order situation is already worsening.
In this background, there is an unannounced war between Lalu and Nithish to prove who really matters. Nitish has plans to experiment mahagathbandhan of like minded parties in other states so that in 2019, he could emerge as a strong PM prospectl. On the other hand, at no cost, Mulayam is inclined to give this space to anybody else. In Bihar, despite being disqualified for electoral posts by the SC, Lalu has started spreading his wings to project himself as the super CM. He not only directs his both sons to abide by his dictates but also goes on surprise visits of public institutions to monitor their performance. The local BJP leaders have taken an objection to these unparliamentary developments and urged upon Nitish to compel Lalu to behave. We remember that before the election, when Lalu was criticizing BJP and JD/U, Nitish had warned him to remain within limits as he was a convict, out on bail. It is unbelievably true that the same CM has to meekly tolerate the same Lalu assuming bigger than a life size proportion of super CM.
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