On a day when the BJP directed its MLAs in the Bihar Assembly to vote against the resolution moved by Chief Minister Rabri Devi opposing the creation of Vananchal, activities in the Samata Party, its ally in the state, threatened to put a spanner on its carefully-nurtured designs.

Claiming that his stand had the support of most of the MPs belonging to his party, Prabhunath Singh, Samata Party MP from Maharajganj (Bihar), today told The Indian Express that he would oppose the Bihar Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, whenever it was moved in the Lok Sabha.

``I'll not allow the division of Bihar, even if means incurring the wrath of my party,'' he said. He hoped that the party leadership would not issue a whip, taking into consideration the prevailing mood within the party.

Lest his views on the matter be misconstrued by his detractors, the SamataParty MP sought to distance himself from the stand taken by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav.

``Laloo has got no right to oppose the creation of Vananchal,'' Singh asserted. ``After all, it was less than a year ago that the Bihar assembly, under the leadership of Rabri Devi, passed a resolution supporting the creation of the new state by bifurcating Bihar.''

According to him, by making a somersault on the issue, Laloo had only exposed his rank opportunism, but had also tried to mislead the ``innocent'' people of the state. ``By his action, he has only served to betray the leaders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,'' the Maharajganj MP said.

Unlike Laloo's flip-flop on the issue, his opposition, Singh claimed, to the bifurcation of Bihar was sincere, something which emanated from his conviction.

``If Bihar is to be divided, so should the rest of the country,'' he pointed out, adding, ``Why only Vananchal? You can also carve out the separate states of Gananchal (comprising the sugarcaneproducing areas), Mithilanchal and Bhojpur from Bihar.''

But undeterred by the danger signals emanating from its Bihar ally, the BJP today directed its MLAs in Bihar Assembly to vote for the formation of Vananchal when Chief Minister Rabri Devi moved the resolution opposing the formation of the proposed state.

Party vice-president K L Sharma, while speaking to reporters this afternoon, claimed that there were reports that the Congress party too was divided on the issue, even though it had formally supported the formation of Vananchal.

The battlelines have been drawn, he said, adding, the picture would become clear when the resolution was moved in the Bihar assembly on Monday by Rabri Devi.