Laloo desperate as noose tightens

Dr Biswas also said the scope of arrest of some top politicians, including the Chief Minister “has not not been exhausted”.

He, however, said “the timing of the arrest of the accused is being decided by the CBI ”.

Meanwhile, it also became clear during the day that there will be no split in the Janata Dal on the issue of party president at least for the moment. An adamant Laloo showed signs of cracking up as he realised that a split in the JD here would lead to a split in the JD Legislature Party in Bihar also.

While a split in the Janata Dal Parliamentary Party may not bring down the Gujral Government, division in the 168-member Bihar JDLP would lead to his immediate exit. Although Laloo has been able to retain majority of party MLAs with him, it is no secret that more than 40 are against him and enough to pull down his government.

Therefore, a cornered Laloo Prasad Yadav today showed signs of cracking when his supporters here and in Patna once again sought Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral’s intervention to resolve the Janata Dal crisis and declared that “boycott of party polls does not amount to a split.”

Sensing Laloo’s predicament, Sharad Yadav mounted a further offensive against him and refused to withdraw from the contest saying it was too late in the day. He said,“if there is a split in the party, it would be due to the fodder scam in Patna.

Earlier, three Union Ministers Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, S R Bommai and S Jaipal Reddy urged the Prime Minister today to help in avoiding a contest between Laloo Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav for the post of Janata Dal’s president on July 3 and evolve a consensus in favour of a third candidate.

But it became clear by tonight that Sharad Yadav, Deve Gowda, Ram Vilas Paswan, C M Ibrahim and others were unwilling to give up the party post to Gujral or to any of his nominees. Gujral’s efforts to persuade Laloo’s opponents yielded no results till the time of going to the press. Another round of talks is to take place tomorrow. On the other hand, JD’s returning officer, Madhu Dandavate, is going ahead with the election scheduled.

The three Union ministers called on Gujral after 21 JD MPs (15 Lok Sabha and 6 Rajya Sabha) held a marathon meeting at the residence of Ram Kripal Yadav this morning and made it clear that they would be compelled to boycott the party polls because delegates had been chosen on the basis of bogus voters’ list.

They said serious irregularities had been committed in 8 states and unless they were rectified, the election for the post of Janata Dal president would not be fair. They also bitterly complained against Madhu Dandavate who had been nominated by the Supreme Court to conduct party polls.

Ram Kripal Yadav told The Indian Express that if the party leadership did not heed to the request, “we would be left with no option but to boycott the polls.” Meanwhile, contrary signals emerging from Patna have indicated that Laloo loyalists have almost finalised the modalities for a possible split in the party. Further decision in this regard will be taken on July 3.State Excise Minister Raghunath Jha said tonight that if the party did not reach an amicable solution by July 3, the Laloo camp would announce the party’s split on the same day.