RANCHI, April 13: The ultimatum on a separate state issued to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee by Shibu Soren and Suraj Mandal of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) yesterday is seen by observers as prompted by their political compulsions. The prime minister has been asked ``to create a separate state (read Vananchal comprising 18 districts of South Bihar) by June 19 or face an agitation''.Ever since the two leaders lost the Lok Sabha elections and, particularly, after Vajpayee reiterated in Lucknow last month that work for creating a separate Vananchal State had been initiated by his Government, Soren and Mandal have been under pressure from the rank and file to quit the party posts.
Their party has 16 MLAs. Five of them -- Neil Tirkey, Bernard Minz, Basant Longa, Dulal Bhuiyan and Vishwanath Bhagat -- have been bitterly critical of them. They have held them responsible for the rout of the JMM in the Lok Sabha elections and reportedly asked them to withdraw their party's support to the Rabri DeviGovernment.
At the same time, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Samata Party combine and the Jharkhand People's Party-All Jharkhand Students' Union alliance have repeatedly asked both Shibu Soren and Suraj Mandal to quit the posts of chairman and vice-chairman of the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) which they presently hold.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
