Lalu, Paswan lash out at Left

NEW DELHI: The Left party leaders came in for a bout of tongue-lashing from their one time close friends ��� the two Union ministers, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan ��� with both leaders predicting a drubbing for the Left in the trust vote on July 22. Speaking separately from their residence on Saturday, Lalu claimed 291 MPs' support for UPA, while Paswan was a bit circumspect, with a figure of 281 MPs.
Lalu castigated CPI leader A B Bardhan for alleging that UPA was buying MPs for Rs 25 crore and challenged him to either prove it or apologize.Paswan said Left parties were practising the "politics of opportunism, devoid of ideology", by going with Mayawati and BJP in their opposition to the nuclear deal.
A visibly agitated Lalu said: "Bardhanji has harmed the reputation of all parties and defamed Parliamentary democracy with his comments. He has said a very nasty thing...the country will never forgive him." Of the 24 RJD MPs, Pappu Yadav and Mohammed Shahabuddin are in jail, and all are likely to vote for the UPA during the trust vote.
"All my MPs are solidly behind the government and will vote for the government. There is no room for doubt on that count. We are intact," said Lalu, in the wake of apprehension among Congress managers that some of his MPs were susceptible to wooing by NDA.
Asked if UPA had the support of smaller parties and independents, Lalu said: "This is the season for small parties, with one or two MPs, to show their importance," adding that all the 5 JMM MPs would vote for the government.
He said BSP leader Mayawati and BJP leader L K Advani would never become prime ministers. "Mayawati is only being misguided by some people...Advani is also anxious to be the prime minister, but he cannot be one...I also want to be the prime minister, but can I?" he quipped.
Launching an equally sharp attack on the Left for joining hand with Mayawati and the BJP in opposing the government on the nuclear deal, Paswan said that "they were engaged in politics of stark opportunism which had nothing to do with any ideology or principles".