With as many as 18 rebel party MlAs voted against party candidates in the recent bypolls for two RS seats, the JD(U) on Sunday decided to end membership of four of them — spearheading the dissident activities — for their ‘consistent anti-party activities’. Bihar Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi, too, has warned for stringent action against the rebel party legislators, but the rebel JD(U) MlAs said they would go to court against party’s action.
Apparently embarrassed with the continuous anti-party activities by nearly two dozen party MlAs the JD(U) chief whip Shrawan Kumar wrote a letter to the Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhury recommending to end membership of four of its MlAs. The names of these four MlAs are Gyanendra Singh Gaynu, Neeraj Kumar ‘Babloo’, Ravindra Rai and Rahul Sharma who represent Barh, Raghopur in Supaul, Mahua and Ghosi Assembly constituencies.
“The activities of the four MlAs before the recent Rajya Sabha bypolls in the State suggested that they do not want to remain in the JD(U) as whose members they were elected to the Assembly,” said Shrawan Kumar, adding that these MlAs have been given time till June 25 to clear their position before the Speaker.
In the just concluded RS bypolls for two seats these rebel party candidates had voted for the two Independent candidates Shabir Ali and Anil Sharma who, eventually, had lost the poll with very thin margin.
Altogether 18 JD(U) MlAs along with two from Congress and two from the RJD had done cross voting in favour of Independent candidates during the RS bypolls.
Earlier, on Saturday, JD(U) leader and party chief whip Shrawan Kumar had even declared names of all 18 party rebel candidates against whom he has sent reports to party national president Sharad Yadav. state chief Basistha Narayan Singh and chief minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi as well for initiating disciplinary action against them.
However, the unfazed 18 rebel MlAs Gyanendra Kumar Gyanu, Raju Kumar Singh, Neeraj Kumar Singh, Ajit Kumar, Anil Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Madan Sahni, Devesh Prasad, Suresh Chanchal, Ravindra Rai, Jakir Hussain, Sanjay Kumar, Rajeshwar Raj, Sunil Kumar, Meena Dwivedi, Amla Devi, Poonam Devi and Sujata Devi later said they would continue with their activities with some more party MlAs would join them in days to come.
The rebel JD(U) MlAs have been raising their voice against former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s dictatorial style of functioning and they also have been demanding expulsion of four of party leaders considered very close to Nitish. “These four leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘lallan’, lallan Saraf, Sanjay Gandhi and RCP Sinha have hijacked Nitish and they are ruining the party,” said Gaynu, who too till the other day, was a member Nitish’s inner coterie.
Mahua Assembly MlA Ravindra Rai who recently had vented his ire against Nitish in public was earlier suspended from the party.
The rebel JD(U) candidates, meanwhile, have said that they would first made their position clear before the State Assembly Speaker on June 25, but if needed they would also go to court against the party’s decision.
“As the election commission had earlier declared that no whip could be issued in the RS bypoll by any political parties the JD(U) decision would not only be a wrong move but also set a bad precedent,” said Neeraj Kumar ‘Babloo’.
“We’re not going to be bogged down by the actions from the party as we’ll seize all opportunities to embarrass the Manjhi Government in the upcoming session of the State assembly,” said Gyanu.
But, Nitish said there was a provision in the 10th Schedule of the Constitution for issuance of whip in RS poll and accordingly a whip was issued to party legislators to vote for official candidates.
Rattled with the rebel activities in recent past, Nitish, however, recently, had thrown enough hint for some strong action to be taken by the party against these rebel party MlAs saying, “four-legged animals could be tamed but it was difficult to stop free movement of two-legged animals”.
Meanwhile, coming from Delhi after his meeting with the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi told mediapersons that stringent action would be taken against the rebel candidates.
“Whosoever crosses the line of discipline must be dealt with sternly otherwise it may lead to more indiscipline and misconduct,” he said. However, after the RS bypoll, the dissident JD(U) MlAs have been holding meetings at each other’s residence to chalk out their future course of action and next strategies after the new found bonhomie between the JD(U) and the RJD.
The RJD MlAs supported the JD(U) candidates in the RS bypolls with leaders of both the parties giving enough hints for a new political realignment in State’s political firmament.