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Bardhan opposes RJD's entry into United Front

Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan on Sunday said his party was opposed to the entry of the Rashtriya Janata Dal led by former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav into the United Front.

The reasons and circumstances which led to Yadav's departure from the UF were still valid, he said at a press meeting in Nagpur.

He said he was confident that the United Front would bounce back and eventually provide an effective alternative to the BJP and the Congress. There was no need to lose heart by temporary setbacks like the desertion of the Telugu Desam Party, he added.

Bardhan criticised Pramod Mahajan's appointment as political adviser to the prime minister with status of Cabinet minister. This appointment would not stand scrutiny of law, he remarked.

The CPI general secretary also criticised Soli Sorabjee's statements after his appointment as attorney general. Sorabjee was all set to act as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party in realising its political goals instead of acting as the highest officer of the court of law.

Bardhan said Sorabjee had been apparently rewarded for championing the BJP cause before the formation of the Vajpayee government. Sorabjee had demanded that the BJP should be asked by the President to form the government without bothering to ascertain the support it could command in the Lok Sabha. The new attorney general was also in favour of increasing the powers of the President and whittling down the Cabinet system, he claimed.

He said the Vajpayee government had three sets of agenda -- the BJP manifesto, the national agenda and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's agenda, and which one would get implemented would depend on how the BJP consolidated its position. The national agenda was a dangerous agenda, a camouflage, he remarked.

UNI

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