Bihar CM shows his clout as JD (U) MPs vote for the Women's Bill; party chief Sharad Yadav sidelined

Nitish gets top Bill-ing

Bihar CM shows his clout as JD (U) MPs vote for the Women's Bill; party chief Sharad Yadav sidelined

The Women's Reservation Bill has thrown up an unlikely beneficiaryu00a0-- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. And his

party chief Sharad Yadav has paid the price.u00a0 Reality may have dawned on Yadav, when all of the party MPs in the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of the bill.

Given Yadav's long innings in politics, the realisation should have come earlier, when George Fernandes was isolated within the party. But nobody wants to write off Yadav or assume that he has been segregated within the party completely. Political observers feel that Yadav still enjoys the support of a majority of the party MPs in the Lok Sabha.

"Yadav should have grasped the mood, when JD (U) MLAs in the Bihar assembly took to the well of the house demanding the adoption of the bill in its present form," said a JD (U) leader on the condition of anonymity.

Till Tuesday, several party MPs loyal to both Yadav and Kumar were sending out mixed signals. The divide became clear when JD (U) chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Mangani Lal Mandal, who is supposedly close to Yadav, said that the party chief had been requested to speak to Kumar and then issue a whip. But Yadav didn't consult Kumar on the matter. When asked, Yadav said, "I could not speak to Nitish as the last 48 hours have been very hectic. I had spoken to him a couple of days back and will speak to him again."

Yadav, who kept emphasising on evolving a consensus among parties on issues like constitutional amendments, could not establish it in his own party. When questioned about it, Yadav sidestepped the issue and said, "My party is a small issue and I am discussing a national issue."

"I am surprised that Yadav was complacent or rather took so long to realise that Kumar was gaining complete control of the party. Even as recently when differences occurred between Kumar and president of the Bihar unit Lallan Singh, the latter had to quit the post. Party leaders know the charisma of Nitish Kumar and cannot afford to oppose him," said Raghvendra, a former Patna based resident editor of a vernacular daily.

Now that the Women's Bill has been passed in the upper house, political parties are gearing up for the real test in the Bihar assembly elections. Psephologist Yashwant Deshmukh said, "Not only Nitish and Lalu but even the Congress will wait for the result of the Bihar assembly elections. It has reoriented the political equations especially in the cow belt."

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