The Hindu : Dissident MPs to `expel' Fernandes from party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 21, 2003

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National

Dissident MPs to `expel' Fernandes from party

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI DEC. 20. Rejecting the Janata Dal (U)-Samata merger as "unconstitutional and illegal," the two Samata Party dissident MPs, Raghunath Jha and Brahmananad Mandal, will soon call a general body meeting of party workers to "expel" the party president, George Fernandes, who is now heading the unified Janata Dal (U).

Mr. Jha and Mr. Mandal have written to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Election Commission that they are the members of the Samata Party, which is alive and kicking and that Mr. Fernandes has abandoned the party and merged it with the JD(U). They plan to call a plenary session and take action against Mr. Fernandes and other Samata leaders for "anti-party" activity.

The two Lok Sabha MPs have declared that they will remain within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and contest the Lok Sabha elections.

However, in the event of they being excluded from the NDA "due to Mr. Fernandes' clout'' with the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpyee, they would work towards forming a `Third Front' in Bihar. They said they had had talks with Ram Vilas Paswan (Lok Jan Shakti) and Captain Nishad (JP-JD).

The two MPs, who are likely to join hands with Devendra Prasad Yadav, and Shashi Kumar, who have split from the JD(U) and formed JD(U-Democratic), together claim the support of at least 10 members of Parliament.

Today, three Samata Party MLAs in Bihar have also written to the Assembly Speaker to say that they remain with the Samata Party.

In their letter to the Election Commission submitted on Friday, the MPs said they were not in favour of a merger with the JD(U) and under the 10th Schedule Articles 102 (2) and 191 (2) of the Constitution even if two-thirds of the members of a party decide to merge with another party, then one member alone had the right to retain the party in the House — which they want to do.

They have sought the retention of Samata Party and reserved its symbol and said the merger with the JD(U) was of individuals in their individual capacity.

(The unified JD(U) has adopted the JD(U) symbol, ratified by the joint national council meeting here on Friday.) They have written a similar letter to Mr. Fernandes as well.

The two MPs are bracing for a legal battle ahead. Since the president of a party issues the party "symbol," the Election Commission would have to take a decision on who has that right for the Samata Party.

On the other hand, in informal talks here today, the unified JD(U) leaders gave the impression that the dissension of Mr. Mandal and Mr. Jha was not likely to last. According to them, Mr. Fernandes had spoken to them and there would be further talks.

They said if they wanted to express their reservations they should have attended the council meeting.

Mr. Mandal told The Hindu that since Mr. Fernandes had already left the Samata, he was not authorised to convene the meeting of the national executive and the national council. He was clear on one score: that there would no talk on their merger with the JD(U).

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