Gujral Defending Laloo: Bjp

The BJP yesterday accused Prime Minister I K Gujral of justifying his lack of action and defending Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam. The party also suspected Bihar Governor AR Kidwais role.

BJP spokesman Yashwant Sinha pointed out Gujrals recent statement on the role of countrys investigative agencies, and alleged that Gujral was using the language Laloo wanted him to use. The Prime Minister was using the occasion of the chief ministers meeting to defend Laloo, he added.

At the chief ministers conference that concluded on Saturday, Gujral had called for a halt to publicity-oriented investigation and reminded the investigative agencies to observe the rules of the game saying that no investigative agency can really be credible if it does not act silently.

Sinha termed the Prime Ministers statement as incorrect and justified the CBI attracting publicity in high-profile cases like the fodder scam. Rather than the CBI, it was the Prime Minister who must observe rules of the game, he said.

The high-profile people who the CBI has been interrogating for their role in various scams were bound to attract publicity, he said. As courts are supervising such cases, and the agency is bound to report it findings to the court, nothing can remain silent or unpublished, he held.

Sinha, a former bureaucrat, pointed out that CBI director Joginder Singh or other joint directors were officially entitled to address press conferences. Unless the Prime Minister changed the rules and put a ban on this exception, he cannot say abide by rule, the BJP spokesman said.

He demanded that Gujral should explain the rules of the game. It was not proper for the Prime Minister to join issues with an officer he can transfer at will, Sinha said. On the CBIs statement on Prime Ministers observations, he asked, is it they are not in talking terms that they need to talk through the press?

The BJP leader opposed Kidwai seeking clarifications from the CBI on its request for sanction to prosecute Yadav, and asked should the Governor ask for such clarifications?

The Governors action means investigating the investigators and it is nothing but interference in the investigation process, he said.

Kidwai told a BJP delegation recently that he would consult legal experts from outside the state to take a final view in the case, Sinha claimed.

He said such action would only delay the sanction. The Governor has no right to appropriate to himself the role of a court or the authority to investigate the CBI, he added.

In case of further delay in giving sanction, the needle of suspicion would go to Bihar Raj Bhavan as well and further complicate the issue, he said.