HVK Archives: Bihar BJP to launch anti-Laloo blitz
Bihar BJP to launch anti-Laloo blitz - The Telegraph
Posted By Ashok V Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
29 April 1997
Title : Bihar BJP to launch anti-Laloo blitz
Author :
Publication : The Telegraph
Date : April 29, 1997
The BJP plans to hit the streets of Bihar tomorrow to demand the
resignation of the state chief minister and Janata Dal president,
Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav.
In a four-day agitation, the BJP will hold dharnas and
demonstrations in Patna and the districts, and burn effigies of the
chief minister. The agitation will climax in a Bihar bandh on May
3, to be called jointly by the BJP-Samata Party combine. The
Samata Party will not collaborate with the first phase of the BJP's
protest agenda.
The BJP is not involving senior central leaders in this agitation,
apart from Mr Yashwant Sinha and filmstar Shatrughan Sinha, who
hail from Bihar.
Sources said the idea is to guage popular response to the
agitation, as well as that of Mr Yadav's supporters. BJP sources
did not rule out large-scale violence in the possible round of
retaliation and counter-retaliation.
The BJP will also assess the impact of the agitation on the United
Front government, particularly a possible split in the Janata Dal
Parliamentary Party in case Mr Yadav refuses to resign. If the
agitation succeeds and the Dal breaks up, the BJP proposes to
intensify its agenda to emerge centrestage in Bihar politics and
occupy the "anti-establishment" space coveted by the Dal in the
Mandal era. At this stage, central leaders are likely to be roped
in.
At a press briefing today, the BJP spokesperson, Mr Yashwant Sinha,
demanded the resignation of Mr Yadav, his two Bihar colleagues who
have been named in the fodder seam and the Union minister, Mr
Chandra Dev Prasad Verma.
Mr Sinha cited the examples of the BJP president, Mr L.K. Advani,
himself and Mr Madan Lal Khurana, who quit the Lok Sabha and the
Assembly after being charged in the hawala case.
The BJP, eager to cash in on Mr Yadav's weakening position, is
claiming credit for not only blowing the lid on the seam but taking
the case to its logical end.
"When the seam first came to light, Mr Yadav ordered a probe by the
development commissioner, Mr Phool Chand Singh, instead of the
police. But now Mr Phool Chand Singh figures as an accused. The
CBI was forced to expedite its probe because of a public interest
litigation filed by the BJP," Mr Sinha said.
He said the decision to charge sheet Mr Yadav and others was
triggered by a letter from the BJP leader, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee,
to the Prime Minister, Mr I.K. Gujral on April 24, demanding the
fodder scant probe not be soft-pedalled. "The letter had an impact
on investigating agencies," Mr Sinha said.
Advani demand
The BJP president, Mr L.K. Advani, today said Mr Yadav should step
down immediately, adds our special correspondent from Calcutta.
At a function in Netaji Indoor Stadium, Mr Advani appealed to Mr
Gujral to dismiss the Janata Dal government in Bihar if "Laloo
Prasad declines to quit".
Reiterating he had quit the Lok Sabha immediately after being
indicted in the hawala scam, Mr Advani said: "Laloo should have
resigned when he was first named by the CBI in the fodder seam".
He said the CBI move had tarnished the image of the Janata Dal
since Mr Yadav was the party president. "The CBI decision to book
Laloo is an indictment of the Prime Minister as well since he is
also a Janata Dal member," he said. Mr Advani said the Gujral
government would not last long and elections were inevitable.
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