Himalayan News Service

New Delhi, May 23:

The Bihar assembly was dissolved today after three months of political uncertainty, paving the way for fresh elections and sparking a war of words between the Congress-led coalition and the opposition. Home Minister Shivraj Patil made the dramatic announcement here, saying the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were trying to nullify the fractured February verdict by trying to break up Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

The decision triggered political tensions as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced two days of nationwide protests with a Bihar shutdown tomorrow and blasted the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). In Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad welcomed the move while in New Delhi his friend-turned-foe Paswan, whose persistent refusal to prop up the RJD led to the political vacuum, blew hot and cold.

Bihar Governor Buta Singh said he had recommended the dissolution of the 243-member assembly following indications that LJP legislators who have moved to BJP-governed Jharkhand were trying to break away and throw their weight behind the JD-U led by Nitish Kumar to facilitate his staking a claim to forming a government. Patil said the decision was a “constitutional necessity” as the political parties were into “horse-trading” in Bihar. Lalu Prasad spoke very much the same language: “There was no choice for the government as the NDA, by poaching into the UPA, was trying to betray the people of Bihar.” A furious BJP slammed the dissolution. “This is a shameless act and this will lead to the return of Lalu-Rabri Raj,” BJP’s vice president M Venkaiah Naidu said, referring to Lalu Prasad’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi. The Bihar assembly had been kept in suspended animation since the February verdict. President APJ Abdul Kalam, now in Russia, gave his approval to the recommendation to dissolve the house. The NDA in Bihar has called for a statewide shutdown tomorrow to protest the dissolution of the assembly.