Nitish calls JD(U) meet in Patna on Tuesday as political crisis brews in Bihar
The Hindu
Opposition RJD says it is ready to ‘embrace’ the Chief Minister if he ditches BJP
A political storm seems to be brewing in Bihar, with Chief minister Nitish Kumar convening a meeting of MPs and MLAs of the Janata Dal (U) on Tuesday to discuss the situation in his party and the State following the resignation of former national president R.C.P. Singh from the party on very bitter terms.
Mr. Singh, a former Union Minister, resigned on Saturday after the JD(U) sent a notice seeking explanation on the charges of corruption levelled against him.
The announcement of the meeting is a fixed point in the fluid political situation now developing in the State with regard to the National Democratic Alliance and the relationship between the BJP and the JD(U).
JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, aka Lalan Singh, did not react to speculation that Mr. Kumar might walk out of the alliance, even though according to sources, Mr. Kumar is said to have spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening, but there was no official word on this from the Congress.
“The Chief Minister has called the meeting of party lawmakers tomorrow [Tuesday] to know their views about the situation that has emerged in the wake of the R.C.P. episode,” Mr. Singh said.
On Sunday, however, Mr. Singh had used sharp words to describe certain “conspiracies” against the JD(U), one of them, according to him being the Lok Janshakti Party, headed by Chirag Paswan, contesting the Bihar Assembly election alone, and becoming a vote cutter, which ultimately led to the JD(U)’s tally being reduced to 43 seats (currently 45 seats).
The JD(U) believes that it was the BJP’s covert attempt at undercutting the JD(U) numbers during the election. “There is another shadyantra (conspiracy) which we will also come out by and by,” he said, referring to Mr. R.C.P Singh.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.