Dissidents likely to rejoin JD(U)

PATNA: During the past nearly five years, if chief minister Nitish Kumar has made a big constituency of his supporters he has also made some enemies. And they are the people who had been his long time friends.
Now these friends-turned-foes have joined hands to strike at their common enemy with a vow to oust him.
But their mission got a big jolt when one of the prominent JD(U) dissident and suspended MP from Jehanabad Jagdish Sharma went to meet Nitish.His suspension is expected to be revoked much before May 9, the day the Nitish baiters are holding a Kisan Mahapanchayat here.
They are also planning to announce a new political party on the occasion. P K Sinha, who is busy in preparation of the Sammelan, termed it a rumour. He, however, said, “By the next assembly election there will be a strong alternative before the people.”
Till recently, Jagdish was quite active in the companyy of dissidents, including former Bihar JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan, former MP from Maharajgunj Prabhunath Singh, Independent MP from Banka Digvijay Singh, who quit the party sometime back, former minister Nagmani and others. But now he is keeping a distance from the dissidents.
The other day Jagdish, accompanied by state JD(U) president Vijay Kumar Chowdhary, went to meet Nitish and they had a detailed discussion on the political scenario.
Sharma was suspended from the party in November last when his wife Shanti Sharma contested as Independent from Ghosi in the by-election.
She won and retained the seat her husband held for over 30 years.
“Jagdish Sharma called on Nitish and discussed various issues with him,” said Chowdhary confirming that he was also present. Before the meeting, Chowdhary had met Jagdish and facilitated a telephonic talk with Nitish.
Party sources said that Nagmani too is likely to quit the group of dissidents once he get a signal from the CM. His wife Suchitra Sinha, MLA, is reportedly playing a key role in bringing him back to the party fold.
Nagmani turned dissident after he was removed from the cabinet and denied a Lok Sabha ticket.
JD(U) national spokesman Shivanand Tiwary said that the coming together of Nitish opponents was like meeting of strange bedfellows. Interestingly, like Jagdish, Nagmani too had a running battle with the former state party chief Lalan Singh.
P K Sinha, however, claimed, “For the first time in the history two dominant and rival castes — Rajput and Bhumihar — have united and the `bataidari’ (sharecropping) issue has come as a catalyst to bind them.”