PM, Laloo break bread and split

Gujral is said to have offered various options to Laloo which he refused saying it was too late. 8220;All these formulae,8221; Laloo said, 8220;should have been suggested before the party elections.8221;

The failure of the talks came at the end of a day which ironically saw Laloo softening his stand for the first time. In the afternoon, he had responded positively to Gujral8217;s damage-control exercise after the Congress had issued a virtual threat to his government.

At tonight8217;s meeting, Gujral told Laloo not to hasten the split as it could not only lead to the weakening of the UF Government at the Centre but also the fall of his government in Bihar.

However, Laloo remained adamant saying, 8220;I cannot trust those who have stabbed me in the back. They will not sit in peace and work for my political funeral if I give up.8221; He singled out Sharad Yadav for what he called his 8220;betrayal8221; and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda for his 8220;pointless frustration and plans to destabilize the UF Government.8221; Laloo said that Deve Gowda was trying to 8220;settle scores8221; with him.

Although a split is now nearer than ever and Laloo maintained his defiant stand saying 8220;I am the Janata Dal8221; 8212; he is still treading cautiously. He has not officially invited any leader for Saturday8217;s convention and said they were free to come and sit with him to 8220;discuss future strategy.8221;

Although Laloo supporters are confident that more than 25 MPs including Union Ministers and majority of Bihar MLAs would attend Saturday8217;s convention, there is still confusion whether he would announce a split at 2 pm during the convention at Bihar Niwas on Saturday.

Six JD MPs including Union Textiles Minister R L Jalappa, who boycotted Thursday8217;s presidential poll, are unlikely to attend the convention of Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

The other Lok Sabha members had a meeting with the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Friday afternoon and were understood to have decided against participating in the convention. 8220;We have expressed our resentment against the defective voters8217; list through poll boycott and the matter ends there. Attending Saturday8217;s convention is not on our agenda at all,8221; Basavaraja Raya Reddy, Lok Sabha member from Koppal said.

Laloo is also aware that Sharad Yadav may not remain for long with Deve Gowda after being formally declared as president of the Janata Dal and forge an alliance with Gujral and try to placate him by accommodating his supporters in key positions. But Sharad is unwilling to concede the leadership to Laloo as Supreme Court, Election Commission and majority of senior leaders are with him and agreed to any formula at this stage.He told The Indian Express that the polling had taken place at the instance of the Supreme Court and it was beyond the leaders to do anything in the matter.

8220;But I am willing to accept any solution to resolve the situation,8221; was all Sharad would commit himself.

CBI DIG B N Kaul, who was asked by the Patna High Court to conduct a thorough investigation into the mysterious death of a fodder scam accused, Harish Khandelwal, in Dhanbad on May 7, has alleged in his report, submitted to the court, that the accused was murdered and his body thrown on railway tracks.

Kaul in his report said this was evident in the forensic report revealing injuries on the rear portion of the head, according to CBI officials here today.