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Laloo vows to ruin Janata Dal
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav has asked all secular parties to support him in his fight against communal forces.
Arriving in the capital to forge an alliance with the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Janata Party, the RJD leader said he was the real heir to the Janata Dal legacy.
The JD, headed by his bete noire Sharad Yadav, Laloo Yadav said, was a sinking ship which should be forthwith deserted by all its members.
According to Laloo Yadav's aide, Union Minister of State Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, the Bihar leader, after his release from judicial custody last week, had decided to gun for the United Front leadership. The latter had thrown Laloo Yadav out of the 13-party combine following his chargesheet in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam.
Laloo Yadav's efforts at thrashing out an electoral alliance with the BSP, the Congress and the SJP also seem geared towards ruining the Front's prospects.
No one in the Front, who had dared to carry out a smear campaign against the RJD chief, would be spared, said Singh.
Significantly, Sharad Yadav and his senior party colleague Srikant Jena appeared rattled by Laloo Yadav's moves.
Asked whether he would still fight the Lok Sabha election from Madhepura in Bihar, Sharad Yadav angrily remarked, ''Of course, I will.''
Such brave words cannot hide the lurking fear of Laloo Yadav's opponents in Bihar.
They know that he plans to ruin their careers by dividing the secular vote. Besides, there is scarcely any
leader in the Front who can persuade the RJD chief, except Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, to retreat. But even the latter's seasoned diplomacy would find it difficult to shatter Laloo Yadav's resolve.
EARLIER REPORT:
Laloo says he will align with Congress, JMM
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