Pak visit only to pursue Indian agenda
Hurriyat, HM have sold themselves : Andrabi

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Jan 4: Dukhtaran-e-Millat chairperson Syeda Asiya Andrabi today blasted Hurriyat Conference and Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit saying they have sold themselves to India and warned People’s Conference leader and Hurriyat executive member Abdul Gani Lone to stop criticising foreign militants.

Addressing a press conference here today, Ms Andrabi alleged that Hurriyat Conference has been neutralised by the Government of India and its leaders were now going to Pakistan with an Indian agenda to pressurise the militant outfits to lay down their arms.

"They (the Hurriyat Conference leaders) have no agenda of their own", she told the crowded press meet, adding, as per the Indian plan, they will pressurise Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Badr outfits to ask their cadre to lay down arms in Kashmir valley.

Referring to Lone’s criticism of foreign militants, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat leader said the criticism was ‘unacceptable’ and asked Lone to shut up his mouth. Otherwise, she warned, Lone can face trouble. After targeting foreign militants, Lone was now speaking against Islam, she pointed out.

Declaring that a solution to Kashmir problem lies in ‘total accession to Pakistan’, Ms Andrabi regretted that going by Pakistan’s welcome of peace initiative and granting of ‘state guest status’ to Hurriyat leaders, it appeared that Pakistan has reconciled to Kashmir Study Group Formula to which she dubbed as ‘Kathwari Formula’. Farooq Ahmed Kathwari, a Kashmiri settled in United States, who heads Kashmir Study Group had mooted trifurcation of the State.

She endorsed the line of hardliner Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Geelani that Kashmir was a pan-Islamic problem and not a geo-political issue. She hailed the stand taken by Lashkar, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Badr outfits but lashed out at Hizbul Mujahideen.

"If Hurriyat Conference leaders have to go to Pakistan to only pressurise some outfits to lay down their arms, then the pan Islamic outfits will soon declare their stand on cease-fire and will go ahead with jehad", she declared.

Ms Andrabi alleged that Hizbul Mujahideen’s State chief commander Abdul Majid Dar has sold himself to India but declined to comment on HM’s Pakistan based ‘chief commander’ Syed Salahudin.

"If Pakistan reconciles to compromise on Kathwari Formula, we will resist this move with the element of jehad", she warned.

Ms Andrabi criticised the Hurriyat Conference for holding meeting under Indian protection and wondered that how Hurriyat leaders have overnight become the darlings of Indian media, which was daily carrying their statements.

She described cease-fire as a conspiracy of the Indian Government, which hadn’t been able to tackle militants militarily. She said the Indian Government was not interested in solving Kashmir issue as it wasn’t ready to quit its land.

Bhat seeks travel documents for all
No response yet from Centre on Pak visit : Hurriyat

SRINAGAR, Jan 4: The All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) today said though "the date set by us for the journey to Pakistan is round the corner", there is still no response from the Centre and added that the peace mission team would be finalised only after travel documents are issued.

"We are awaiting a positive response from the Centre, though January 15, the date we have set for travel to Pakistan is approaching, APHC chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat told UNI this afternoon.

When asked if the Hurriyat leaders have applied for passports, Prof Bhat said, "our applications are pending before the passport authority of India since long."

The Centre has to issue travel documents to all the seven executive council members of the Hurriyat, he said, adding that the team members who will visit Pakistan for holding talks will be decided later.

Asked why he has not nominated the team although the executive council had authorised him to Prof Bhat said he will select the team only after centre issues travel documents to all the seven members.

"If I select a member and the Government of India does not issue travel documents to him, it will definitely create misunderstandings, which I definitely want to avoid," he said.

Prof Bhat said, "if the Centre is sincere to make the peace process a success it will issue travel documents to all the seven members."

However, he said, if some APHC leaders were given travel documents, the executive council will meet again and decide upon the future strategy.

Prof Bhat said, "people with vested interests do not want the peace initiative taken by India, Pakistan and Hurriyat to succeed...They know once the Kashmir issue is resolved, they would be no where."

When asked if people from Jammu and Ladakh would be included in the peace dialogue at a later stage, Prof Bhat said, "it depends".

"We will consider their inclusion while working on a final solution. But let us first see how India and Pakistan respond."

The seven-member APHC executive council on January two, after failing to reach a consensus on selection of a team for Pak, authorised Prof Bhat to nominate the team members.

The APHC had expressed its desire to visit Pakistan to hold talks with the Gen Pervez Musharraf-led military Government and leaders of various militant outfits operating from there.

The APHC had said earlier that their talks with militant leaders would have a positive impact.

Barring Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, no other Hurriyat leader had passport. Mr Abdul Gani Lone was recently given country-specific passport to visit Pakistan for his son’s wedding with the daughter of Kashmiri separatist leader Amanullah Khan. The passport is valid for three months.

Mr Lone said he had applied for a passport in 1993 after his earlier passport was cancelled. He had said that the passport applications of the Hurriyat leaders were pending with the authorities and there was no reason to apply afresh.

Moulvi Abbas Ansari’s passport was also impounded by the Government some time ago. However, he, along with Moulvi Omar Farooq, was allowed by the Centre to visit Qatar for the November Organisation of Islamic Conference summit.

Four members - Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Sheikh Abdul Aziz - do not have any travel document.

Former Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq denied reports that there were any differences on the composition of the team that would visit Islamabad and said "let the Centre issue passport and other documents to all the seven members, the composition of the team would be decided later".

Earlier, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen had insisted that all the seven executive council members of the Hurriyat Conference should be allowed to visit Pakistan for talks.

The militant outfit said if the APHC members were not allowed to visit Islamabad, the entire exercise would be meaningless.

In a statement, the Hizb said if some members were allowed and others barred from travelling to Pakistan, the move would create an impression that the umbrella group was divided between moderates and hardliners. (UNI)

Let ‘comdr’ among 2 top ultras killed
Militants kidnap 4 civilians in Poonch

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI, Jan 4: Army killed two militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit including a ‘commander’ Abu Shuban Omer in two separate encounters at Mandi and Thanna Mandi while militants kidnapped four civilians from village Ari in Mandi area of Poonch district.

Official sources said a group of six to seven unidentified militants struck in village Ari last mid-night and abducted four civilians at gun point from their houses. Family members of civilians tried to rescue their kins but to no avail.

Militants whisked the civilians away from the village and disappeared in a forest area. Till late this evening, the whereabouts of hostages hadn’t been ascertained though searches were being conducted by police to trace them.

The hostages have been identified as Shah Fazal, Shahab Din son of Mohd Shafi, Mohd Bashir son of Jalal Din and Mohd Aslam son of Mohd Rafiq, all residents of village Ari.

Sources said kidnappings from the village took place even as an encounter was going on between militants and army since yesterday afternoon. Yesterday, an army jawan Shiva Ji Mukadam was killed while another jawan and a civilian Imtiyaz Ahmed were injured in the exchange of firing.

The encounter resumed this morning when troops, during searches, spotted two militants in a forest area of Ari and asked them to surrender. Militants, however, opened firing which was retaliated by army personnel.

In the cross-firing, a militant was killed, whose identity couldn’t be ascertained immediately. He was stated to be an activist of LeT outfit. One AK-47 rifle with rounds, magazines and grenades were recovered from his possession.

Troops continued searches in surrounding forests of Ari to track down the absconding militants and four kidnapped civilians.

Another encounter took place between army and militants at Azmatabad in Thanna Mandi area when a patrol party of Thanna Mandi Brigade was fired upon by the militants. In retaliatory firing, a Lashkar ‘commander’ later identified as Abu Shuban Omer of Pakistan was killed.

From the scene of encounter, troops recovered one AK-47 with three magazines and a wireless set. Other militants managed to escape during the gun-battle and were being chased in Thanna Mandi forests, the sources said.

Meanwhile, a militant gunned down by army in an encounter at Ghambir Mugalan forests in Manjakote area yesterday was today identified as Rashid alias Abu Javed.

Special Operations Group (SOG) Rajouri smashed a hideout of the village at Tunda under Kandi police station and recovered 354 Pika rounds, 42 AK rounds, a box of Pika ammunition, a Chinese grenade and 36 hand grenades.

Two suspects were arrested in this connection. They have been identified as Abdul Majid son of Fateh Mohd and Mohd Jaffer son of Mohd Hussain, both of Tunda village.

Qureshi sent back to Tihar jail

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Hashim Qureshi, lodged in judicial custody for the 1971 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane, was today sent back to Tihar jail from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital following an improvement in his condition.

Qureshi, who was hospitalised on Tuesday night following a complaint of chest pain, was discharged today as his condition was stable, Deputy Medical Superintendent of DDU Hospital N C Das told UNI.

The investigations conducted at DDU had shown his condition to be normal, barring a slight enlargement of the heart on the left side. The tests conducted this morning, including ECG and blood pressure, showed that he was stable, he said.

The 47-year-old JKLF leader’s condition was monitored round the clock in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since Tuesday night and he was put on medicines, they added.

Qureshi’s counsel KTS Tulsi said yesterday that the JKLF leader had a history of cardiac ailments and was carrying some medicines when he was lodged in Tihar jail on December 29. But, police did not allow him to carry his medicines and his condition deteriorted as he did not take his medicines.

Qureshi was arrested and remanded in judicial custody till January 11 after his dramatic comeback from Holland on December 29.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police have sought his custody in the case registered in 1971 when Qureshi and his associates had hijacked an Indian Airlines Fokker Friendship plane on its way to Jammu from Srinagar, and blew it up at Lahore in Pakistan.

Qureshi had arrived here from Copenhagen in Denmark on December 29 while travelling on a passport issued by the Dutch authorities. Since he did not have an Indian visa, he asked for 72-hour landing permission. His travel documents show that he was to visit Kathmandu after a halt in Delhi.

Mr Ashok Mathur, standing counsel for the Jammu and Kashmir Government, had earlier told the Delhi High Court, where Qureshi has challenged his arrest, that investigations into the 1971 hijacking are still pending and Qureshi’s custody may be handed over to the State authorities.

He said if a person has not been tried for an offence under the State Government’s jurisdiction, then the constitutional ban on second trial does not apply.

Qureshi, he said, is still to be tried for robbery which is punishable by 10 years and a fine, kidnapping which is punishable by seven years and a fine, aiding the enemy for which a death sentence or rigorous imprisonment for life can be awarded.

On the other hand, Qureshi’s counsel K T S Tulsi said his client’s detention is against Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution. "Hijacking is one integral offence for which Qureshi has already suffered extreme hardships during his nine years’ sentence in a Pakistani jail. He has already been tried by a court of competent jurisdiction. And second trial is barred by law if facts of the case are same."

The matter is to come up before the same special division of the court today. The crucial question which the court has to decide is: Whether Article 20(3) of the Constitution covers offences for which a person has been convicted and sentenced on foreign soil. (UNI)

Links with militants suspected
BJP leader, 2 other heroin smugglers sent to JIC

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 4: Police have sent a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prof Mohd Sultan Ganai and his two associates, all involved in the smuggling of heroin, to Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) to ascertain their links with Kashmiri militants.

Ganai, who had contested last Parliamentary election from Baramulla-Kupwara Parliamentary constituency on BJP mandate, had been arrested by Gandhi Nagar police from his residence in Janipura late last month after his name figured in the questioning of two smugglers, who were arrested from Vikram Chowk alongwith a consignment of 1.5 kg heroin worth Rs 1.5 crore in the international market.

SP City (South) Rajinder Gupta today confirmed that Prof Ganai and two others including Aijaz Ahmed Bhat son of Mohd Bhat of Khanyar, Srinagar and Taufeek Ahmed Khan son of Mohd Khan of Panjigam, Bandipora have been sent to JIC to know whether the trio were only smuggling heroin or consignments of arms and ammunition as well.

He said all three smugglers were subjected to sustained questioning in the police station during which they made some important disclosures. In view of this, police decided them to send to JIC, he added.

It may be recalled that a Gandhi Nagar police station party had intercepted two narcotics smugglers on the basis of a specific information that a consignment was being smuggled to Jammu from Srinagar. Two persons were arrested as soon as they had boarded off a passenger bus from Srinagar. The duo had named the BJP leader for whom they were smuggling heroin for the past quite sometime.

Meanwhile, Gandhi Nagar police today arrested yet another drug-peddler Pritam Chand son of Munshi Ram, a resident of Nanak Nagar from near the Convent Crossing this morning. About 100 gms of charas, which he was selling to youths, was recovered from his possession.

The drug-peddler has been booked under Section 20 of NDPS Act.

Same police have also arrested two thieves and car stereo lifters from two different areas of Gandhi Nagar and recovered a large quantity of stolen items including stereos from their possession. They have been identified as Neginder Parsad of village Neerganj, Orissa and Rajesh Kumar alias Toni son of Kuldeep Raj Sharma of Naraniyan Mohalla.

Besides car stereos, a colour television set and a tape recorder were also recovered from the possession of Neginder Parsad. More recoveries were expected of them during further questioning, police said, adding a case has been registered against the duo for further investigations.

All 4 accused nabbed with weapons
Gurdwara murder worked out

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 4: Gandhi Nagar police have completely worked out the murder of a teen-aged boy committed inside Sector No. 14, Nanak Nagar Gurdwara on the occasion of Gurpurab on Tuesday by arresting the two absconding accused including the main culprit Narpreet Singh alias Sonu of Nanak Nagar.

Jagjit Singh alias Bablu, 17, son of an Electricity Department Inspector Ajit Singh and a resident of Nanak Nagar was stabbed to death inside the Gurdwara by four miscreants where he had gone to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab.

SP City (South) Rajinder Gupta told newsmen today afternoon that four boys, all of whom were teen-aged and involved in the murder, were arrested by police within 36 hours of the killing. While two accused were arrested from Akhnoor the same evening when they were trying to escape to Akhnoor, two others were captured from RS Pura last night, he said.

Gupta said the arrests were made possible due to massive efforts put-in by Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) South Abdul Rouf Lone and SHO Gandhi Nagar police station Shamsher Singh Parihar besides other officials and staff of the police station. Police officials spent sleepless nights (to nab the accused) in view of sensitivity of the crime which not only took place inside a religious place but also on the auspicious occasion of Gurpurab.

Arrested accused have been identified as Narpreet Singh alias Sonu son of Kuldeep Singh, Kamaljit Singh alias Prince son of Sohan Singh, Rajinder Singh alias Gill son of Maan Singh and Amritpal Singh son of Mohan Singh, all residents of Nanak Nagar.

Two sharp-edged weapons including a ‘kirch’ and a ‘khokhri’ have been recovered from their possession. Amritpal and Ravinder had been arrested by the police within few hours after the crime while Narpreet and Kamaljit were arrested from RS Pura last night.

Gupta said sustained interrogation of the arrested accused was on to extract exact reason behind the murder. Preliminary investigations revealed that Narpreet and Kamaljit had a tiff with deceased an hour before the crime as well.

The duo accompanied by two other associates then attacked Jagjit Singh inside the Gurdwara in full public view. While Kamaljit caught hold of Jagjit, Narpreet inflicted multiple stab injuries on his stomach resulting into his on-the-spot death. All four escaped on a scooter and a motor-cycle. The motor-cycle used in the crime has also been seized by the police.

Police said all four accused had planned to escape to Poonch. Two of them were nabbed in Akhnoor on a motor-cycle on way to Poonch while two others had taken shelter in RS Pura before proceeding to Poonch. Narpreet Singh, also a student of Matric and working in an STD PCO at Nanak Nagar, had his relations in Poonch from where he returned recently.

Replying to a question, the SP South said police was yet to establish any ‘love angle’ in the crime.

PDD to enhance cuts
NRLDC stops overdrawal of power supply by JK

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 4: People of Jammu and Kashmir are all set to face harsh winter in the coming days with Power Development Department (PDD) deciding to enforce more power cuts following the decision of Northern Grid not to allow excess drawal of power to the State.

In view of the decision, the 220 KV line feeding power to Udhampur station from Kishenpur and Sarna was opened on the order of Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC), New Delhi at 1530 hours today.

With the result the power supply to Udhampur, Doda and Wanpu districts, Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board and major parts of Old Jammu City, fed from Janipura station, was disrupted, Chief Engineer, PDD, H S Raina told EXCELSIOR this evening.

Raina said a number of requests were made to NRLDC by Power Development Commissioner to restore the line but they refused to oblige and told State to manage the power supply within the allocation.

NRLDC authorities also told J&K officials that no overdrawal of power will be allowed to any State from now onwards as it was major cause of main grid failure on January 2, which had resulted into power supply failure in the entire Northern India on the auspicious occasion of Gurpurab.

Due to this, the power cut schedule is being revised and will be enforce soon wherein the cuts will have to be enhanced to keep the drawal of power within the allocation, Raina said. Presently, Jammu was facing power cuts of 9 hours in 24 hours. Raina regretted the inconvenience which was likely to be caused to the people.

Meanwhile, the power supply was restored to Udhampur district and some areas at 1900 hours today while normal supply resumed at 2300 hours tonight.

Curfew relaxed in Kishtwar
Ex-militant, young girl killed in Doda

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 4: A young girl and a former militant were killed in two separate incidents across Doda district overnight while curfew was relaxed in Kishtwar town for the first time in the last four days in view of improvement in the situation.

Official sources said Akhter Hussain, a resident of village Chakla in Bhaderwah tehsil and once a hardcore activist of Hizbul Mujahideen, was gunned down by his former associates at village Puneja late last night. He was dragged out from his house, where he had been putting up and shot dead.

Militants escaped after the killing.

Sources said the deceased was involved in a powerful explosion at Takya Chowk, Bhaderwah about two years back. He was arrested by police few days after the blast and detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) for two years. Later, he had given up the militant activities.

A police party today visited village Puneja for investigations in the killing. Body of the victim was handed over to his family after post-mortem.

Police also recovered dead body of a teen-aged girl Amina Bano daughter of Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Patti Mahal, Palmar in Kishtwar from Kridzala area of Chatroo this morning. She was missing since December 1 last year and a report of missing had also been lodged by her family at Kishtwar police station.

Police said reasons behind her killing were being ascertained.

Meanwhile, administration today relaxed curfew in Kishtwar initially for two hours from 1000 hours to 1200 hours and again for two hours from 1700 hours to 1900 hours. Relaxation period passed off peacefully, the sources said, adding situation was fast limping back to normalcy in the town.

Curfew had been clamped in Kishtwar on Tuesday evening following mob violence after accidental burning of Jamia Masjid.

Ears, nose of 4 candidates chopped off

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI, Jan 4: Militants chopped off ears and nose of four Panchayat election candidates at village Hari Morha in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district last night.

Official sources said different groups of militants attacked houses of four candidates simultaneously in Hari Morha and caused them serious injuries by chopping off their ears and nose. Militants fled from the village after committing the crime.

The incident sparked off tension in the village this morning. The injured were admitted to hospital.

This was first major attack by the militants to sabotage ensuing Panchayat elections whose first phase is beginning from January 15.

Farooq gets Ali Jauhar award

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was today awarded Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar award for his distinguished career in politics.

The award, consisting of a shield and a shawl, was presented to Abdullah by Rajya Sabha member A R Kidwai.

The other noted recipient of this year’s award was Dr M Khalilullah Muhammad in recognition of his contribution in the field of medicine.

The award, instituted in 1984 and named after former president of Indian National Congress and noted freedom fighter Maulana Muhammad Ali, is awarded annually for excellence in the fields of journalism, poetry, publication, social service, politics and sports. (PTI)

Pak impressed by Vajpayee’s statement on Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar today expressed the hope that talks between New Delhi and Islamabad would soon be held to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Speaking at the National Security Council which met here, Mr Sattar said Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s recent statements on Kashmir had impressed the Pakistan administration.

Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf presided over the meeting which reviewed the situation in the region with special focus on Kashmir and the general strategic situation.

The Foreign Minister briefed the Council on the coming visit of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) delegation to Islamabad on January 15.

During the course of meeting, Mr Sattar expressed the hope that the coming visit of the Hurriyat leaders would help in the tripartite talks on Kashmir.

The Council also discussed the implications of the United Nations Security Council on Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan had an obligation to implement the Security Council resolutions and would take appropriate steps for its compliance.

About the change in the United States administration, Mr Sattar said the prospects of the revival of cooperation between the two countries also came up for discussion.

He expressed the hope that the relations between the two countries would be strengthened. (UNI)

Premji, Ambanis among world’s 50 richest people

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Two Indian families—those of Wipro chairman Aziz Premji and Reliance chief Dhirubhai Ambani—figure in the top 50 of the Forbes world’s richest people for 2000.

Mr Premji and his family, who the magazine says are worth 6.9 billion dollars, are placed 43rd in the 14th annual list of the world’s billionaires published by the magazine, while the Ambanis, worth 6.6 billion dollars, follow two places below.

As many as seven other Indians appear in the list of 322 billionaires from around the world, put up by the magazine on its web site.

They are Shiv Nadar of HCL Group (ranked 130 with 3.7 billion dollars), Subhash Chandra of Zee Television (155, three billion dollars), Lakshmi Mittal of the Ispat Group (197, 2.1 billion dollars), Vinay Rai and family of the Usha Group (210, two billion dollars), Kumaramangalam Birla of the AV Birla Group (226, 1.7 billion dollars), B Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computers (275, 1.3 billion dollars) and the London-based Hinduja brothers (307, one billion dollars).

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates continues to top the list with 60 billion dollars, followed by Larry Ellison of Oracle with 47 billion dollars.

Gates was ranked first in 1999 with 90 billion dollars, but his wealth has eroded by 33 per cent during 2000, thanks to the fall in the value of microsoft shares.

Mr Premji and his family have seen their wealth grow from 2.8 billion dollars in 1999 to 6.9 billion dollars in 2000 while the Ambanis’ worth increased from 1.2 dollars to 6.6 billion dollars over the same period.

"The dawn of the new century brought with IT a surge of wealth creation around the globe. Despite the April hiccup in technology stock prices, as a whole the world’s richest billionaires are even wealthier than they were last year," Forbes said.

"Their combined net worth tops 1.1 trillion dollars - up 100 billion dollars from 1999. But that increase wasn’t driven by the folks at the peak of this money pyramid. Three of the four wealthiest men have lost billions on paper over the past 12 months—and the richest of them all, Bill Gates, is poorer by tens of billions. The good news is that riches are spreading, albeit slowly, to more parts of the world," it said.

The top 50 billionaires include 23 from the United States, three each from Germany, France, Sweden, Japan and France, two each from Saudi Arabia, India and Sweden and one each from Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Canada, Italy and Turkey. (UNI)

Nitish quits Govt over Samata merger issue

PATNA, Jan 4: In a dramatic turn of events, Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar today resigned, apparently angered over rebel Samata Party MPs’ attack on him and senior party leader George Fernandes’ assurance to them against merger with JD(U).

Fernandes, however, dismissed Kumar’s resignation saying "there is no such thing" and told reporters in Bangalore that the merger issue would not lead to a split in the party nor have an impact on the NDA Government.

After shooting off his resignation letter to Fernandes, with a request to forward it to the Prime Minister, Kumar flew in here a day ahead of the State party convention which will be a virtual trial of strength in this largely Bihar-based party.

Out of 12 Samata Party MPs in the Lok Sabha, 10 are from Bihar, with dissidents claiming support of seven.

After Kumar was authorised by State Legislators to work out modalities for merger with JD(U), he came under severe attack from rebel MPs led by Bihar unit chief Raghunath Jha, who last evening threatened to split the party by holding a parallel convention.

Fernandes, however, averted a crisis by dissuading them from holding the parallel convention with an assurance that there was no question of merger with JD(U).

Hours later, Kumar reacted by sending in his resignation to Fernandes and announcing it here on arrival from Delhi. Kumar said anybody was free to throw his hat in the ring for the post of State party unit chief in tomorrow’s convention and charged the rebel MPs with hobnobbing with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. At least one of them had a meeting with Yadav on December 30, he claimed.

Dissidents on the other hand say merger with JD(U) would only benefit Laloo Yadav and would strengthen the position of JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, who though an MP from Bihar, had no base in the State and would be a virtual "liability" for the party.

Reacting to the dissidents’ diatribe against the JD(U) chief, Kumar said they should consider a person’s stature before making such comments as "Sharadjee" was not moving around with an application for merger.

Kumar has not yet indicated whether he would be fielding any candidate for the State party chief’s post to upstage Raghunath Jha, who earlier broke away from Laloo Prasad Yadav, but indications are that he would work out a strategy to demonstrate his strength in the State unit.

Meanwhile, Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly told reporters in Delhi that Kumar’s resignation should not be accepted as he had been doing a good job as Union Minister. (PTI)

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