New Delhi, July 05: The Mamata Banerjee-Lalu Prasad faceoff triggered by the Railway Budget 2009-10 seems to be suiting Congress fine, with it appearing that there may be an apparent bid to needle the RJD chief out of the ruling camp.
Prasad’s hostile reaction to Mamata’s barbs about his tenure in Rail Bhavan has been received with anticipation by Congress leaders who feel a message of distancing from him is necessary for the party’s revival in Bihar.
If Mamata’s budget appeared to provoke the RJD chief, it was seen as an extension of `Project Bihar’ which Congress embarked on in the Lok Sabha polls by going it alone and attacking Lalu even to the benefit of JD(U).
A day after the Rail Budget, Congress strategy of pushing RJD away from the ruling tent appeared confirmed. A senior AICC functionary washed Congress’s hands off the bitter fight between the RJD and Trinamool Congress chiefs, saying Congress had nothing to do with it. “It is between two non-Congress leaders,” he said.
The statement quashed any hopes that Congress would intervene in case tempers run high between the railway ministers of UPA-1 and UPA-2.
The Trinamool chief’s budget angered Prasad as her threat of a `white paper on last five years’ appeared a bid to question his legacy. The latter styled himself as “turnaround man” in Rail Bhavan, with certificates from far and wide underwritten by PM Manmohan Singh.
Relations between RJD and Congress soured during the LS polls when the former offered a measly three seats to AICC, triggering a retaliation. Since Congress won a comfortable tally in LS to not need a weak RJD, it has shunned the one-time trusted ally. The last signs of bonhomie seem to be blurring with the Rail Budget.
Congress strategists are in favour of a divorce. They feel if the party has to revive in Bihar, a message of complete split has to be sent out to the voters. The feedback from LS elections was that while the parties had parted ways, the voters were unconvinced that they would not come together later. It led to upper castes not voting for Congress, while minorities too were confused, sources said.
Preparing for 2010 assembly polls, Bihar leaders feel that a sense of total split would leave upper castes, traditional Congress supporters, with a clear choice in case they want to move away from JD(U)-BJP. Also, minorities would have Congress as another `secular’ alternative apart from RJD against a JD(U) which is aligned with BJP.
—Agencies