Bihar: CPIML(L) seeks coordination committee for smooth functioning of Mahagathbandhan govt

Senior CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjan said his party has been in favour of the formation of the coordination committee from the beginning. The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance comprises seven parties.

Patna:The CPIML(L), a part of the ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, on Wednesday demanded the immediate formation of a coordination committee for the smooth functioning of the government. CPIML(L) legislature party leader Mehboob Alam told that he met Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav soon after the resignation of RJD minister Sudhakar Singh and urged him for the immediate formation of the coordination committee.

"The deputy CM asked me to give names of the CPIML(L) leaders who will be a part of the committee at the earliest. He assured me that the committee would be constituted very soon," Alam said. "Leaders of other alliance partners will also be asked to give names of their representatives for the committee. The committee will have at least two members from each party," he said.

The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance comprises seven parties -- JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPIML(L), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM, which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-member assembly. The CPIML(L) has 12 MLAs. Singh, who held the agriculture portfolio, resigned on Sunday after embarrassing the government regularly by raising issues of rampant corruption in his department and questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's agriculture roadmap.

"Since Singh was a part of the government, he should not have questioned its functioning. Such acts have an adverse impact. Therefore, immediately after the formation of the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, we had demanded the setting up of a coordination committee and a common minimum programme to ensure smooth functioning of the government," Alam said.

Senior CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjan said his party has been in favour of the formation of the coordination committee from the beginning. "Our leaders Ram Naresh Pandey, Kedar Pandey and MLC Sanjay Singh met the chief minister after the formation of the government and proposed the idea," he said.

"The recent developments demand that we must have a coordination committee. The CM was not averse to the idea. Now, it is very much required as two by-elections (Mokama and Gopalganj) are here," he said.

On the resignation, Anjan said people like Singh should not have aspired for the ministerial berth. "They should not bring disgrace to the government... and give the opposition a chance to beat the drum," he said. (PTI)