The Hindu : The tussle at the top in Samata

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Sunday, Apr 13, 2003

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National

The tussle at the top in Samata

By K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI APRIL 12. For over a week, the Samata Party has been in the grip of yet another crisis, with its top two leaders, the party chief and Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, taking on each other by proxy.

And in spite of two rounds of meeting between the two this week to halt the downslide, a sense of mistrust prevails, with the loyalists of each faction pointing a finger at the deeds of the other.

Efforts by the former party chief, V.V. Krishna Rao, to see that the party was not affected by the feud were thwarted too. Many in the party feel that the tussle has resulted in the Samata going off its track with regard to its commitment — delayed stand on Iraq and inability to exercise control over the BJP to rein in outfits like the VHP, damaging its credibility and betraying its socialist background.

Although the reasons of the turbulence can be traced to a move by the faction close to Mr. Kumar in trying to remove the Samata Bihar Legislature party leader, Uma Shankar Singh, for his alleged proximity with Mr. Fernandes, its roots run deeper. The struggle at the top has been on various counts — control of the Bihar unit, nominations to the Rajya Sabha, and continuing verbal attacks on either side, being some.

In January last, under intense pressure from the Nitish faction, Mr. Fernandes changed the Bihar unit leader, Raghunath Jha, and appointed Bashisht Narain Singh, a Nitish loyalist, as its convenor. The party also informally agreed to dissolve the State executive.

The move was opposed by the leader of the Samata Bihar Legislature Council, P.K. Sinha, who approached the Election Commission, seeking action and the Commission sought the Samata's response. It is the reply by the party general secretary, Shambhu Shrivastwa, that triggered the current crisis. Bihar is the only State where Samata has a dominating presence and Mr. Kumar has an upper hand here.

Mr. Kumar's loyalists are upset that while replying to the Election Commission, the central leadership did not think it fit to consult the Railway Minister. Apparently, at the last meeting Mr. Fernandes is understood to have assured Mr. Kumar that he would not tolerate indiscipline but soon he revoked suspension of the party MP, Bramhanand Mandal, who was acted upon last year for criticising Mr. Kumar. The action was seen in variance with the word.

Mr. Mandal lost little time in letting his feeling known once again. Those close to Mr. Fernandes argued that Mr. Kumar's loyalists too should exercise restraint instead of being carried away by sentiments.

Besides this, two of Mr. Kumar's nominees made it to the Rajya Sabha even though there were feelers from the top to accommodate some central party leaders instead.

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