Saturday, April 9 2005 15:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: NDA (National Democratic Alliance) chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar's attempt at formation of a non-RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) popular Government in Bihar today (April 9, 2005) received a boost with nine independents extending 'unconditional' support to the move.

"We have in writing and also orally conveyed our support to Nitish Kumar in his endeavour to form a popular Government and requested Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ramvilas Paswan to adopt positive approach to JDU (Janata Dal United) leader's proposal," seven-term member of the State assembly from Ghosi Jagdish Sharma and another independent Ramdeo Rai told a press conference.

Kumar, who has been authorised by the JDU to hold negotiations with non-RJD parties, had on April 2 sent copies of Common Minimum Programme (CMP) prepared by his party at its recent brainstorming session at Rajgir to six non-RJD parties including the LJP (Lok Janshakti Party), CPI (Communist Party of India), CPI-ML (Liberation), Samajwadi Party, BSP (Bahujan Samajwadi Party) and Nationalist Congress Party, besides 17 independents seeking their support for Government formation.

"We deliberated on Kumar's proposal and felt that since he had taken the initiative without involving the BJP there was no reason for Paswan to reject it," Sharma said requesting the intransigent LJP leader to reconsider his decision.

"The failure of this exercise will inevitably lead to a snap poll and Paswan will owe an explanation to the people for this as president's rule cannot be an alternative to a popular Government" Sharma and Rai said.

They released a signed list of nine MLAs including besides Sharma and Rai, Vijendra Chaudhary, Kishore Kumar Munna, Haribhushan Thakur, Lalbabu Rai, Murlidhar Mandal, Kaushal Yadav and Purnima Yadav who have declared their support to Kumar's initiative.

Jagdish Sharma claimed that the nine independents, who met at the residence of Kaushal Yadav late last night, also had the backing of six others including Narendra Singh, Rupnarain Jha, Avadhesh Singh, Tarkeshwar Singh, Jagmato devi and Surendra Yadav, who they said would soon send their letters of support to Kumar.

Stating that though the people's mandate was for installation of a coalition government comprising the JDU, LJP and BJP, Sharma said, "The meeting felt that Nitish Kumar's was an independent initiative for formation of a non-RJD and non-BJP dispensation taking into account the feelings of other democratic parties."

He said the independents were happy about the meeting between Kumar and Paswan at Samajwadi Party's State president Dadan Pehalwan's residence, "But we failed to understand why Paswan backed out."

Sharma said the meeting resolved to request the MLAs of non-RJD parties to impress upon their leadership the need to install a popular Government and, in the event of their failure, "Come forward on their own for this (Government formation) in the larger interest of the people".

Kumar had on April 2 taken the initiative of cobbling together six non-RJD parties sans his NDA ally BJP and held parleys with Paswan, who soon after the meeting had thrown a spanner in JDU leader's works by sticking to the stand of not joining hands with JDU unless it came out of the BJP-led NDA.

The CPML having seven MLAs too had yesterday poured cold water on Kumar's move saying the electoral verdict was not only against RJD and the UPA but also against BJP and the NDA.

"The talk of combining anti-RJD forces to form Government is an eyewash and an act of political dishonesty as long as JDU continues its friendship with BJP," CPML State secretary Ramjatan Sharma said.