Lalu sticks to his gun on 'Advani arrest' episode

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today stuck to his gun on the 1990 'Advani arrest' episode in Bihar, saying the then Union Ministers Sharad Yadav and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had telephonically asked him ''not to arrest L K Advani and allow his Rath Yatra to pass through Bihar''.

''This can be verified by checking the phone records of that period,'' Mr Prasad told reporters here.

Mr Prasad, the Rashtriya Janata Dal president, said he would also write a book on the issue, setting at rest all doubts.

''When I come out with the book, nobody would be able to give a lie to the facts,'' he added.

Describing Janata Dal (U) President Sharad Yadav as an ''opportunist'' and a ''liar'', the RJD President said he received instructions not only from Mr Yadav but also from Mr Sayeed not to arrest Mr Advani during his Rath Yatra.

Yesterday, Mr Sharad Yadav had charged the Railway Minister with ''fraud with the history'' by alleging that as a minister in the United Front government, he had told the latter not to arrest Mr Advani.

The JD(U) leader said the allegation made by Mr Lalu Prasad in a recent interview to a private channel was ''a damn lie and a fraud with the history.'' Unruffled by Mr Yadav's rebuttal of his charges, Mr Prasad said he was willing to swear by God that whatever he had said in his interview was ''absolutely true.'' ''I am going to write the book with full responsibility to reveal the entire facts, which will be irrefutable,'' he said, adding that it would also expose the politics of ''Mandal and Kamandal''.

Mr Sharad Yadav, on the other hand, had asserted that he was the first person as the minister in the United Front Government who said that Mr Advani should be arrested in Bihar.

''It was the United Front Government at the Centre which was at stake as the BJP leaders had threatened to withdraw support to it if Mr Advani was arrested,'' he pointed out.

UNI SKS VD BS1935