J H Patel for induction of RJD into government

Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel said on Friday that Laloo Prasad Yadav's resignation as Bihar chief minister should not be made a condition for admitting the Rashtriya Janata Dal into the United Front. But he said he too felt Laloo Yadav should quit owning moral responsibility for the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam.

After an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister I K Gujral, Patel said he was among the first in the party to demand Laloo Yadav's resignation, but that was when he was in the Janata Dal. ''Now as an old friend of Mr Yadav, I can only appeal to him to step down and appoint one of his confidants as the chief minister till the inquiry is completed.''

Patel's views on the matter diverge markedly from that of others in the Janata Dal, including former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who demand that Laloo Yadav should quit before the RJD is admitted into the UF.

Patel said the UF steering committee should decide on the matter, and if the three Union ministers who belong to RJD should be dropped from the government. He said he favoured the RJD's induction into the Front since there was no ideological differences involved since the UF has aligned with all parties barring the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He also opposed the demand by a section of Janata Dal leaders that President's rule be enforced in Bihar if Laloo Yadav refused to resign. He said he opposed the use of "this obnoxious provision" since the 1950s when the E M S Namboodripad government was dismissed, in Kerala, he said.

Asked if the increased dissident activity in the JD after the party split posed a threat to his government, Patel said, ''People see ghosts where none exist. The party is well rooted, strong and united.''