Prasada Charges Uf With Blackmail

Prasadas frontal attack on the United Front and his reiteration of his demand that the Congress should pull down the UF government assumes significance in view of the CWC meeting to be held here on Monday.

The CWC is expected to take a decision in the matter during the crucial meeting.

It is just the start of the trouble between Congress and UF and the end may not be far away given the hostile stand taken by several Congress state units, including West Bengal and Assam against the tie-up in the Centre, according to Congress sources.

When Prasadas attention was drawn to a recent statement of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar that the UP matter could not be made an issue for withdrawal of support for the H D Deve Gowda government, Prasada told newspersons that it might be Pawars personal view. According to Prasada, the CWC will deliberate the issue at length and any decision would be taken by the entire committee. He, however, indicated that he would raise the support-withdrawal issue, seeking justice for Congressmen who are opposed to the politics of support to the UF.

Endorsing Congress president Sita Ram Kesris open warning to the Front during a public meeting yesterday, Prasada alleged that the Front had indulged in politics of blackmail and opportunism.

According to him, Congress leaders are being painted in bad light in the public eye deliberately. When the matter comes to the Front leaders, efforts are made to brush aside the cases on some pretext, but in case of Congress leaders, the Front maintains that the law will take its own course. He charged the Front with attempting to break the Congress-Bahujan Samaj Party tieup by not accepting the Congress demand for making BSP leader Mayawati the state Chief Minister.