Laloo warns PM against victimising him

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has warned Prime Minister I K Gujral that if he was 'victimised' in the fodder scam the United Front would disintegrate. He claimed that the 13-party combine's unity largely depended on him.

According to a senior Janata Dal leader, Laloo Yadav dropped a veiled threat to this effect in a telephonic talk with Gujral on Monday night. It is learnt that Gujral hinted that his government was in no position to 'bail' out the scam-tainted leader.

Another senior JD leader said the UF leadership has decided to gently convince the Bihar chief minister to step down instead of launching an aggressive campaign for his ouster. This decision came in the wake of the Left parties' demand on Monday that Yadav should resign immediately. When this was conveyed to him, the Bihar chief minister summoned his supporters in Patna and declared that he would go down fighting rather than give in tamely to 'conspirators' who lacked any political base.

It is understood that Gujral had advised the Deve Gowda camp in the JD not to precipitate matters pertaining to the Bihar chief minister. Both Gowda and Yadav have been at loggerheads ever since the former refused to scuttle the CBI's investigations into the fodder scam.

Laloo Yadav's supporters in the New Bihar Niwas Bhavan in New Delhi have urged their leader to launch a regional front if the party betrays him. However, Yadav has told them that since he is the president of a national party it would be better for him to stay within it and carry on his struggle against his detractors in the party and the UF.

Most UF leaders on Tuesday remained tight-lipped on the Bihar chief minister's fate. The Left leaders said they had already done what was required of them in this regard. CPI leader M Farooqui told this correspondent, ''We (the Left parties) have made ourselves clear in this matter.''

Following the prime minister's advice, Yadav's critics including Deve Gowda, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mulayam Singh Yadav seem to have slowed down their campaign against the Bihar chief minister. However, several JD leaders pointed out the they had already gone too far in their efforts to unseat Yadav and that they would step up the campaign for his ouster in the next 10 days.