Dalit dose to treat 'ailing' Cong in state
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Chhedi Paswan and (above) Ram Vilas Paswan. Telegraph picture
Patna, Nov. 2: Senior JD(U) MLA Chhedi Paswan's "revolt" against chief
minister Nitish Kumar and growing affinity with the Congress is,
apparently, a part of the Sonia Gandhi-led party's silent but
well-planned operation to rope in Bihar's Dalit leaders and target the
space of a credible opposition that is in tatters in the state.
Chhedi, a Dalit leader of some muscle in central Bihar who represented
Sasaram seat twice in the Lok Sabha, also organised a Dalit convention
in September, bashing Nitish for his "anti-Dalit" policies. Since then
Chhedi has been speaking against the chief minister at a time when the
JD(U) is the "hot destination" of the RJD and LJP rebels.
The grapevine in the Congress interprets Chhedi's revolt as the
initial success of the party's "long-term plan" to make a dent in
Nitish's Dalit support base. Sources in the Congress revealed that the
party's newly appointed in-charge of Bihar affairs, Sanjay Nirupam, an
MP from Maharashtra but a Bihar resident, has put in place a long-term
mechanism to revive the party's state unit.
When contacted, Nirupam told The Telegraph: "At this stage, I can only
say that we have worked out political programmes to revive the party
in the state. Occupying the main Opposition's space is the first
target, which according to our assessment will take at least two
years. But we are not in a hurry."
The Congress sources also revealed that the party high command had
instructed Nirupam to work on regaining the confidence of the Dalits,
Muslims and Brahmins, who were the nucleus of the party's power for 40
years till 1990 in the state. "This too has to be done bit by bit. But
we are, right now, working on the Dalits," a senior party leader
confided.
Sources also disclosed that the party had offered LJP chief Ram Vilas
Paswan — totally marginalised after his party's successive drubbing in
the polls — to join it. But Paswan, in alliance with Lalu Prasad's
RJD, is still believed to have "reservations" about joining the
Congress though he has always favoured an alliance.
The Congress, however, appears to be very clear about its strategy in
the state. The party, in no way, wishes to have a truck with Lalu
Prasad's RJD. "Our primary aim is to occupy the main Opposition's
space in the state," Nirupam said, hinting at Lalu's RJD has fast been
losing its image as a credible opposition.
Asked about the possibility of Paswan joining the party, Nirupam said:
"It is always good if a leader of his (Paswan's) stature accepts the
Congress's policies and joins it."
"We should be practical in our approach. As of now, there is vacancy
for the opposition for there is no opposition in the state with the
Nitish Kumar-led alliance winning 206 of 243 seats and still staying
strong. In such a situation, we should work on our own rather than
siding with Lalu's outfit, which hardly looks equipped to take on the
Nitish dispensation," said a senior leader.
It is not for nothing that Chhedi has, of late, been showing affinity
towards the Congress.
He had invited a Congressman and chairman of the National Commission
for Scheduled Castes P.L. Punia at the Dalit convention to launch his
diatribe on Nitish.
Sources in the Congress revealed that the party might offer some
senior constitutional position (read presidential) position to Meira
Kumar, who represents Sasaram in the Lok Sabha, and offer that seat
(her father Jagjivan Ram had represented for whole of his life) to
Chhedi.
Asked to comment on these moves, Nirupam refused to discuss the names
and other specifics, saying: "I can only say that we have a long-term
plan to revive the party and we are at work. We will feel like
succeeding if we get in a position to emerge as the main opposition at
the grassroots-level even in the next two years."
As of now, it is hard to predict about the success of the Congress's
new moves. What looks apparent is the fact that the country's oldest
party is, at least, trying something rather than slipping into
oblivion in the wake of its worst-ever debacle in the last Assembly
elections.
------------------------------------
----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
No comments:
Post a Comment