New Delhi: RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) president and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad today (Aug 25, 2004) said that the manner in which the Karnataka police returned from Mumbai without proceeding to Bhopal to arrest BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Uma Bharti smacked of a "tacit understanding" between her and the Congress Government in Karnataka.

"I feel there is a tacit understanding between Uma Bharti and the Congress Government in Karnataka. The police team which was coming to arrest her, returned from Mumbai," Laloo told reporters in New Delhi.

The RJD leader dubbed the arrest episode as a "drama". "The Karnataka police sends a police team to pick up Bharti and suddenly decides to go back without arresting her," he said.

When pointed out to him that the Karnataka Government was headed by Congress, RJD's coalition partner at the Centre and back home in Bihar, Laloo declined to comment.

Bharti resigned as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister after a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against her by a Karnataka court in case of rioting ten years ago.