BHUBANESWAR: Senior Janata Dal leader, Mr. Biju Patnaik, reiterated the opposition demand for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister, Mr, Narasimha Rao, in the wake of the hawala scam, He suggested that finance minister, Dr, Manmohan Singh take over from him.

“The finance minister is no 2 in the Cabinet and his name does not figure in the scam, He can take over from the Prime Minister and run the Government till the Lok Sabha elections arc: over,” Mr. Patnaik said at a press conference here. Lambasting Mr. Rao for trying to implicate leaders of all political parties in the scandal, the Opposition Leader said that with the Prime Minister himself became a suspect in the case it Was time for him to resign. “He has fallen in the grave he had dug for others,” quipped Mr, Patnaik.

Mr, Patnaik alleged that Mr, Rao had cleverly picked the names of politicians in the hawala issue by influencing both the CBI and the Jains. He said the name of late Rajiv Gandhi was dragged into the affair only to thwart Ms. Sonia Gandhi’s entry into. Congress politics at the national level.

He thanked the Supreme Court profusely for taking upon itself the task of saving democracy in the country at time when moral values were plummeting with the Prime Minister’s name in the muck. Mr, Patnaik said the choice of Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav as Janata Dal president was unanimous and approved by the national executive and parliamentary affairs committee (PAC) of the party. Expressing confidence that Mr. Yadav with his youth and vitality would further strengthen the Janata Dal, he said that the Bihar Leader would continue to hold the post till Lok Sabha elections were over. “After that we will go through the normal process of electing the president,” said Mr, Patnaik.

He added that Mr. S.R. Bommai resigned voluntarily, even though there was no charge sheet against him in the hawala case, “He resigned because he felt that the best Thing to do in the present situation is to be ablo.to fight corruption at all levels,” said Mr. Patnaik. Underscoring the need for the National Front to set things right in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Patnaik hoped that the problems in these states would be sorted out by the end of the month, He was confident that the JD and its associates would form the government at the Center.

Article extracted from this publication >>  February 7, 1996