The Hindu : Samata Party crisis deepens

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 06, 2003

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Samata Party crisis deepens

By K. Balchand

PATNA APRIL 5. The crisis in the Samata Party deepened with the Nitish Kumar faction gunning for the Defence Minister and party president, George Fernandes' scalp at its legislature party meeting today.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of the letter to the Election Commission by the party spokesman denying the dissolution of the State executive and claiming that Bashisht Narain Singh had been appointed as convener of the Bihar unit to oversee organisational elections. The stage for confrontation was set when, earlier in the day, the Nitish Kumar faction removed P.K. Sinha — considered a Fernandes loyalist — as party leader in the Legislative Council.

There were claims and counter-claims about the resolutions adopted at the meeting. While supporters of the Railway Minister claimed that a resolution accusing Mr. Fernandes of conspiring against Mr. Kumar had been adopted, the Samata's Legislature Party leader, Uma Shanker Singh, denied it. Mr. Singh, who chaired the meeting, said the meeting reposed faith in Mr. Kumar's leadership and expressed dismay over the change in the stand regarding the status of the State executive and called upon its central leadership to convene the national council to resolve the dispute.

On the other hand, the deputy leader of the party in the Assembly, Upendra Kushwaha, claimed that a resolution condemning Mr. Fernandes' role in "belittling" Mr. Kumar and seeking to remove him from the post of party President was adopted. The resolution, he said, urged Mr. Kumar to take over the leadership of the party in a bid to strengthen it and defeat the alleged conspiracy of Mr. Fernandes to destroy the party altogether.

Mr. Kushwaha said the resolution was opposed only by three of the 28 legislators present. Having demonstrated its hold over the legislative wing, Mr. Kumar's group is now set to prove its organisational control on April 12 and 13 when an emergency meeting of the State executive and all district units would be held.

Things in the party turned sour with the exit of Raghunath Jha as the State unit chief and the dissolution of the State executive by the parliamentary party. This was, however, denied by the Fernandes group in its letter to the Election Commission.

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