Rift widens among Bihar Opposition after Rajya Sabha poll defeat

After the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, in which ruling NDA bagged all five seats, a rift has widened among Opposition Mahagathbadhan (grand alliance) coalition from which four–three from Congress and one RJD MLA—were declared absentees. The ruling NDA leaders now have dared Opposition RJD to expel its legislator from the party while, coalition Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) has accused Congress of making their vote go to “waste”.

The Opposition alliance – having necessitated the contest by fielding RJD candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh, failed to win a single seat. The Rajya Sabha election results were out on March 16. The BJP won two seats for party president Nitin Nabin and leader Shivesh Kumar, their ally JD(U) bagged two seats for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and party leader Ram Nath Thakur while, alliance partner Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha won another seat but, the Opposition candidate A.D. Singh lost the poll. The Opposition grand alliance, with total 35 seats in State Assembly, though, had managed to get support of all five All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and one Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Ramgarh, Satish Kumar Singh Yadav. However, three Congress MLAs and RJD MLA – were absent, making win of the fifth NDA candidate Shivesh Kumar easy and comfortable.

All the absentee MLAs Manoj Biswas, Surendra Kushwaha and Manohar Prasad of Congress party and the lone RJD MLA from Dhaka constituency in East Champaran district Faisal Rahman cited different reasons for not casting their vote. However, later, the embarrassed State Congress disciplinary committee chairman Kapil Deo Prasad Yadav issued notices to all three absentee party MLAs but, the RJD is yet to take any action against Mr. Rahman.

“I dare RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to take action against party MLA from Dhaka Faisal Rahman”, challenged JD(U) MLC and party spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. State BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar said, “Tejashwi Yadav cannot take action against absentee party MLA. The person who even could not manage to hold family or party, how could he manage to hold Opposition Mahagathbandhan?”, he asked.

Senior Congress leader and former All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Kishore Kumar Jha from Madhubani district of Bihar, though, held top party leadership’s “lack of communication with party workers and leaders responsible for three party MLAs in Bihar being absentee during recently held RS poll”.

“The top party leadership should realise that all three absentee party MLAs were brought into the party from other parties and given ticket in the State Assembly polls, sidelining hardworking grassroot leaders. It was also the reason that there were incidents of cross-voting by Congress leaders in other States during the RS poll. When you prefer leaders from outside the party and make them MLAs, these things are bound to happen”, asserted Mr Jha. The Independent MP from Purnea, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav too took on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for “running away after defeat in RS poll”.  

Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal leader (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in State Assembly is said to have gone to Kolkata on vacation with family immediately after the Rajya Sabha poll results.

Similarly, the Opposition ally Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) MLA from Paliganj constituency of Patna district Sandeep Saurav rued that his party leaders vote during recently concluded Rajya Sabha election had gone “waste” because of Congress party.

Political analyst N. K. Choudhary said that RJD “might not be able to take any action against absentee party MLA from Dhaka Faisal Rahman as even the marginal fall in party’s tally of 25 MLAs in State Assembly get him robbed of the position of Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, which is equivalent to the rank of a Cabinet Minister”.

As per rules, a political party must have number of legislators 10% more than the total number of MLAs in State Assembly to lay claim to the post of Leader of Opposition. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, RJD has 25 MLAs. “However, the rules also stipulate that the government has discretionary powers to grant the leader of Opposition status even if the party concerned falls short of the required strength”, said Mr. Choudhary, citing the example of 2010 when RJD MLA Abdul Bari Siddiqui was made Leader of Opposition despite the party having only 22 members in the House.