Laloo, Sharad File Papers For Jd Presidentship

The two Yadavs of Janata Dal - president Laloo Prasad and working president Sharad Yadav - will fight out the partys presidential elections, to be held on June 10. The two leaders, accompanied by their supporters, filed their nominations at the Dal office yesterday, the last day for filing papers.

Sharad Yadav was accompanied by civil aviation minister C M Ibrahim, Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Wasim Ahmed and presidents of at least eight state party units. Ibrahims presence suggested former Prime Minister Deve Gowdas support to Sharad Yadav. Other possible supporters are rail minister Ram Vilas Paswan and parliamentary affairs minister Shrikant Jena. Laloo was also accompanied by his supporters, mainly from Bihar, including MPs and Union ministers.

A defiant Prasad later declared that he was still the party president and since all powers were vested in the president, he had decided to hold the next national plenum and presidential election in his home town Patna.

The returning officer, Samant Ray, called it a mere offer by the Bihar unit just as by five other units of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir. Ray said the venue would be decided in consultation with senior leaders.

Sharad Yadav said there was still time for a consensus choice and that talks would continue till June 2, the last date for withdrawal of nomination. Asked if there was any chance of his withdrawing from the race, he said he would if there was a consensus on any other name. Apart from Laloo Prasad and Sharad Yadav, there is a third candidate from Kerala.

Laloo Prasad said he intended to battle it out. He said he saw the party presidentship as a weapon to fight those who implicated him in corruption cases. He gave the example of BJP president L K Advani and said every single member of the BJP remained solidly with him during his hawala case. If the BJP could support Advani, why couldnt the Dal support him, Prasad asked. If the party did not support him in his hour of crisis then the message will go to the masses that Laloo has been rejected by the Janata Dal, Prasad said.

When asked to explain what he meant by this, Prasad asked Haryana leader Som Pal to explain.

He later nodded in agreement when Som Pal explained that a challenge to Laloo Prasad by any party leader amounted to a revolt and now it was for all to see, including the masses and Dal workers. He said it was more so when the challenger is a man who gained stature with the support of Laloo Prasad.