Left Not To Press For Sharads Resignation

The Left parties are unlikely to press for Janata Dal president Sharad Yadavs resignation from his post, as they do not want to lose another strong ally.

Senior Left leaders yesterday refused to comment on the issue of Yadavs resignation following a Delhi courts decision to charge him in the Jain Hawala case, saying it was an internal matter of the Janata Dal.

For the record, the CPI(M) politbureau on Sunday said that Yadav should make some interim arrangement to dispose off his work as the party president till the court trial gets over. CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet met Yadav on Sunday night and said that even though his party had issued an statement it would not push for his ouster, a Janata Dal MP said.

Some Janata Dal leaders, however, took up the cudgles against the Left parties for their statement on Sunday and said that the Left parties should refrain from interfering in the internal matters of other parties. Another Janata Dal MP said the Left parties should first set their house in order and face the consequences of the personal ledger account scam (PLA) in the Left Front-ruled West Bengal.

Some Janata Dal leaders ruled out the possibility of Yadav stepping down from his position and maintained that since Sharad Yadav had already resigned from Lok Sabha once on the same issue why should he resign again as the party president.

Senior leaders of the party met at the residence of Union minister of state from home Maqbool Dar and reviewed the whole situation. A leader who attended the meeting said the talks of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda taking over from Yadav were intended to create confusion in the party.