Bihar’s ruling JD(U) on Tuesday pushed itself closer to a showdown after a disciplinary committee recommended severe action against 11 MPs among nearly 200 other leaders for their alleged anti-party activities during 2010 Assembly polls.
The recommendations by a three-member committee immediately resulted in a widening of the rifts between chief minister Nitish Kumar and several rebel leaders, who reiterated allegations that the party had come under a dictatorship. Bihar JD(U) chief Bashistha Narayan Singh said he received the committee’s report, which is based on its fact-finding work over two months, and sent it to JD(U) national chief Sharad Yadav for approval.
In perhaps the biggest disciplinary action to be taken by a Bihar party so far, the JD(U) committee recommended suspension of 73 leaders for three years and 41 others, including many district unit chiefs, for six years while asking for the expulsion of 73 party functionaries. The committee, led by senior MLA and Mr Kumar’s loyalist “Gyanendra Singh Gyanu, issued warning against 174 functionaries found to have erred “not very seriously”.
The MPs facing disciplinary action include prominent rebels like former state unit chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan (currently MP from Munger), Begusarai MP Monazir Hasan, Karakat MP Mahabali Singh, Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh, and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha. Other MPs facing the same fate are Arjun Rai (Sitamarhi), Purnamasi Ram (Gopalganj), Mangani Lal Mandal (Jhanjharpur), Baidyanath Prasad Mahato (Valmikinagar), Meena Singh (Ara) and Aswamedh Devi (Ujiarpur).
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Bihar BJP leader tries to immolate
age correspondent
Patna
March 8: The anti-corruption initiatives of Bihar’s NDA government got an unlikely blow on Tuesday when a BJP leader in Lakhiserai attempted self-immolation after complaining of corruption and indifference in government offices in the southern district. The Lakhiserai district magistrate’s office witnessed high drama as Navin Kumar, 28, a block president of the BJP in the district, reached there with a plastic container full of kerosene to set himself afire as per his pre-announced programme. With policemen waiting for his arrival, Mr Kumar tried to run away to a safe place.