JAIPUR, February 10: The fledgling Rajasthan unit of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has plunged into a crisis following a revolt against state president Jagmal Singh Yadav. Unfortunately for Yadav, the scene of the revolt is Alwar, his home district.The crisis is of Yadav's own making. He told media persons at Alwar on Sunday that the RJD had withdrawn Manjula Kaushik, its nominee for the Alwar seat, to avoid a split in the non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) votes. He hinted at the likelihood of RJD extending its support to Congress nominee Ghasi Ram Yadav and appealed to the Bahujan Samaj Party also to withdraw its candidate so that he could effectively take on the BJP candidate Jaswant Singh Yadav.
Instead of obliging Jagmal Singh Yadav, Kaushik held a separate media conference later, vowed to stay put in the contest and charged the former with disloyalty to the party. She said the state BJD chief had won over Ghasi Ram Yadav. She also levelled some serious allegations against him and claimed that shehad been told by RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav to stay in the contest. Kaushik said Laloo Prasad Yadav had assured her that he would look into her complaint against Jagmal Singh Yadav after the elections.
Kaushik said Jagmal Singh Yadav had stopped cooperating with her even before he announced that he had pulled her out of the race. She described Jagmal Singh Yadav as a political turn-coat, who shifted his loyalties for petty gains. She also claimed that he made undue demands on her, including asking her to part with a mobile telephone. Kaushik said Jagmal Singh Yadav had no authority to decide on anybody's candidature because all tickets had been distributed by the party supremo.
As far as shifting loyalties are concerned, Kaushik's own record is no better. She was formerly with the BJP, which he left in order to join the Janata Dal. Later, she left the Janata Dal and joined the RJD on the eve of the elections. Kaushik is no political heavy-weight but her sheer presence as Laloo Prasad Yadav's nomineein the fray in the Yadav-dominated Alwar constituency is not being looked upon kindly by the key contenders. Not only the Congress and the BJP, but the Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party have also fielded Yadav candidates with an eye on Yadav votes. Jagmal Singh Yadav is apparently keen on not adding to the number of people vying for the Yadav votes, but has himself landed to controversy in the bargain.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
