LJP, RJD, SP to adopt united stand on formation of secular govt

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and RJD president Lalu Prasad today said they would put their common views along with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav on formation of secular government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a joint press conference here, Mr Paswan and Mr Prasad said they would have vital role in the formation of a secular government at the Centre and the RJD-LJP-SP configuration would put their views unitedly in this regard.

'''Several secular political parties are contesting the Lok Sabha elections separately but they would come on the same platform for the formation of a secular government after the elections,'' both the leaders claimed.

Mr Paswan and Mr Prasad said the doors would remain open for accommodating the Left parties during the formation of the government at the Centre.

When asked about the reservation of the Congress on the role of Left parties in government formation, both the leaders said the Left should join the government but hastened to add that it was for the Left parties to decide on the issue. Mr Paswan said neither he nor Mr Prasad ever alleged that Congress was responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid but the historical fact could not be denied that Congress government headed by the Prime Minister Narsimha Rao was at the helm of affairs when the incident took place in December 1992.

Both the leaders claimed that their parties would perform better in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar and alleged that NDA was engaged in booth capturing and other nefarious designs to influence the polling in connivance with the concerned officials of the state government.