Non-inclusion of Lalu in Union Cabinet irks RJD
Category :
City |
Posted Date :
13/07/2011
PATNA: Bihar was ignored during the expansion of the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. This is possibly for the first time when Bihar has gone unrepresented in the central government. When the UPA-II government was formed a couple of years ago, Meira Kumar, the MP from Sasaram, was inducted as the water resources minister, but only for a brief period, as she was soon picked to chair the Lok Sabha. With her elevation as the Speaker, Bihar's representation in the Union Cabinet came to an end.
Incidentally, the Congress won only two seats in the 2009 general election. Another MP is Maulana Asrarul Haque, who won the Kishanganj seat. There is no Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha. But this non-representation of Bihar is being felt more in the RJD circles. The RJD was quite hopeful that its chief Lalu Prasad would be inducted in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. The speculation gained strength when Lalu met AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday last.
In Delhi's Tughlak Road bungalow, the RJD supremo along with his confidants waited for a warrant from the Rashtrapati Bhavan which never arrived. The anxious wait and disappointment made Lalu supporters angry and bitter.
"The presence of Laluji in the Union Cabinet would have benefited the Congress since the party is facing an onslaughtfrom different quarters," an RJD leader said. The disappointment and anger was palpable in the RJD camp, but none of the leaders were willing to say anything on record.
"This is for the first time when Bihar has gone unrepresented in the central government," said leader of the opposition in assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui. He said he was not aware of any Congress move to induct Lalu in the cabinet. "A least, the Congress should have inducted Maulana Haque," Siddiqui told TOI. RJD general secretary Ram Kripal Yadav said he had read about speculations being made in the media on Lalu's possible induction in the Union Cabinet.
Congress sources here revealed that a majority of the BPCC leaders had vehemently opposed any move to induct Lalu in the Union Cabinet. However, senior Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra said, "It was only media speculation about Lalu. There was no such move by our party."
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