Laloo Yadav, Deve Gowda rift worsening
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Janata Dal President Laloo Prasad Yadav's refusal to attend
Friday's steering committee core group meeting of the United
Front has brought into sharp focus the widening chasm between
him and Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.
The core group meeting of the United Front was chaired by Deve Gowda
at his Race Course Road residence. The others who attended it
were Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, A B Bardhan,
and G K Moopanar. While other Front leaders like Jyoti Basu
and M Karunanidhi could not attend due to preoccupations,
the Janata Dal president's absence was apparently because of his widening rift with the prime minister.
When asked on Saturday why Laloo Yadav had stayed away from the meeting, Janata Dal Working President Sharad Yadav replied, "Why don't you ask Laloo Yadav?"
According to Leftist leaders of the United Front government, Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Yadav has let Deve Gowda know through the federal Information and Broadcasting
Minister C M Ibrahim that if he is ignored
any further by the United Front leadership, he would not be responsible
for any instability in the 13-party ruling political combine.
It is understood that Deve Gowda was not at all amused at receiving
the Laloo Yadav's message from Ibrahim!
Laloo Yadav's reference to instability in the United Front has been construed
by the Front leadership, particularly by Deve Gowda, as a latent
threat. In his meetings with his followers in Delhi, Laloo
Yadav has repeatedly emphasised that if the prime minister fails
to restrain the Central Bureau of Investigation regarding the animal husbandry scam in which
he is allegedly involved, there is little point in the survival
of the United Front.
Laloo Yadav has often told his supporters that his relationship with the prime minister is
based on quid pro quo "you-take-care-of-me-I-take-care-of-you"
principle. It is understood that the Janata Dal president has also told
Ibrahim that there are charges of corruption against Deve Gowda too, and that the fodder scam is not the only scandal involving United Front leaders.
Recently, Laloo Yadav tried to
procure the two books written by former member of Parliament K Venkatgiri
Gowda. The two controversial books contain details of the allegedly
illegitimate wealth procured by the prime minister and his family
members. Deve Gowda has succeeded in restricting the circulation
of these two controversial books in Karnataka.
The bad blood between Laloo Yadav and Deve Gowda increased
after the prime minister excluded the Laloo Yadav from
his breakfast meeting of United Front leaders, held recently at Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi. Deve Gowda also made a token appearance at the fag end of Laloo Yadav's iftaar party at the New Bihar Bhavan in New Delhi, further infuriating the Bihar chief minister.
Matters came to a head on Friday
when Deve Gowda also did not invite Laloo Yadav to the meeting
of the core group. A Janata Dal Rajya Sabha member confirmed
that Laloo Yadav has told his supporters that if the UF leaders
did not "bail" him out in the fodder scandal, he would ensure
that Deve Gowda too was in the "hot seat" regarding
various scandals. Laloo Yadav reportedly said that he has documentary
evidence regarding various scandals involving other United Front leaders.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that at the iftaar party on Friday of
Ibrahim, his supporters said that Deve Gowda had made up
his mind about adopting a hard stance against Laloo Yadav if
he was chargesheeted in the fodder scam.
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