ELECTIONS '98 COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Rabri demands Vajpayee's resignation

Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi today demanded that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee resign immediately following the debacle of the BJP in the assembly elections held in the four states and the Bihar bypolls.

Addressing Rashtriya Janata Dal workers in Patna, she said Vajpayee had lost his moral right to continue in office following the people's clear verdict against the BJP in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

She said Vajpayee's claim that the inflation would not have a bearing on the party's performance in the hustings proved wrong, and added that the people would not support a party comprising "hoarders and blackmarketeers".

She alleged that Samata Party leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar had joined hands with the BJP only to escape a probe into their involvement in different scams.

She congratulated the people of the four constituencies in the state, where the RJD romped home with a convincing margin, adding that voters supported parties that stood for the cause of the poor and downtrodden.

The chief minister exhorted the ministers, party MLAs and workers to tour the state extensively to make the December 8 "khabardar" (warning) rally a grand success.

Meanwhile, a four-point resolution was taken at a party meeting condemning the BJP-Samata combine and the Central Bureau of Investigation for implicating former chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam.

The resolution said the party's victory in Koderma constituency in south Bihar indicated that the people of south Bihar were opposed to the division of the state.

The results of the assembly elections had proved that anti-BJP forces were consolidating to expose the BJP's "fascist and communal" face, it said, adding that the BJP could incite religious fanaticism to generate violence.

The resolution said the Centre was responsible for violence and alleged that the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre was formed with the support of blackmarketeers and hoarders.

The RJD workers were opposed to the formation of the proposed Vananchal state, it stated, adding that the BJP wanted to weaken the state politically and turn south Bihar into a colony of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Assembly Election '98

Tell us what you think of this report