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No alternative to Cong.: Laloo
ALIGARH, FEB. 8. Launching his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the RJD president, Laloo Prasad Yadav, today said there was no alternative to the Congress at the Centre for secular forces in the country in the present scenario.
Addressing a public meeting in Iglaas constituency, Mr. Yadav said he had decided to extend full-hearted support to the Congress because he was convinced that the decimation of the BJP was necessary to save the country from ``forces of communalism''. He said the BJP had come to power on the promise of ushering in an era of political stability and security for all. However, the only stability provided by ``was to scamsters and crooks.''
Mr. Yadav said it was ironical that those involved in major scams such as the UTI and `coffingate' were going scot-free and being protected by the BJP ``whereas I am being hounded everyday.''
``For me, jail has become like home and I am no longer scared of jail or death. Only those who overcome these two fears can fight for causes dear to them.''Mr. Yadav said it was now clear that the BJP rule in Uttar Pradesh was coming to an ``unceremonious end and once the Government fell in the State, the demise of the BJP-led Government at the Centre would only be a matter of weeks.''
Earlier addressing the gathering, the Congress general secretary, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said that after the end of the Congress rule in Uttar Pradesh in 1989, all development work had come to a stand-still. The law and order situation was the ``worst ever'' as criminals and mafia leaders had been part of the Government.
`Krishna' vs. `Kansa'
Mr. Yadav said the Centre had ``deliberately'' kept him in jail in the name of corruption. But, now that the Supreme Court had granted him bail, he had come out like `Krishna' to kill `Kansa,' he said, adding that Uttar Pradesh had become a victim of the BJP's policy of `divide and rule' for years. Justifying his decision to campaign for the Congress, he said the RJD-Congress alliance was `longstanding' as his party favoured a secular dispensation at the Centre and had supported the Congress attempts to form a Government in 1999.
`Ram lila company'
Blaming the BJP for spreading communal hatred in the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh, he charged the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, with using `Ram' for electoral gains time and again. ``First, it was in 1992 when I stopped his `rath' in Bihar and now he is making efforts to parade the `sants' to grab power in the State.'' The BJP had become the `Bharat Jalao' (Set India afire) party and the NDA Government, a `Ram lila company.'
Mr. Yadav accused the Vajpayee Government of acting under the `diktats' of the U.S., saying ``Vajpayeeji U.S. ke pichlagoo ho gaye hain. Jo U.S. kehta hai, woh karte hain.'' (Mr. Vajpayee is toeing the U.S. line. He does whatever the U.S. asks him to do).
- PTI, UNI
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