Monday, April 25 2005 13:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ranchi: Railway Minister Laloo Prasad today (Apr 25, 2005) pooh-poohed the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) demand for his resignation saying the saffron party was afraid of imposition of President's Rule in Gujarat.

"The BJP is afraid of Article 356," Laloo said apparently referring to his accusation of the Gujarat Government's involvement in the attack on him at Vadodara during his visit to the city after the Sabarmati train accident on Thursday (Apr 21, 2005).

He was replying to a question on the BJP's demand for his resignation following the framing of charges against him by the special CBI court in Ranchi.

Yesterday (Apr 24, 2005) the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo said the BJP had taken cover of the CD footage for fear of Article 356. He claimed that it was the fear of attracting Article 356 that the BJP had resorted to such an action on the advice of BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley.

Jaitley had yesterday claimed that the footage of the video clippings of Laloo showed that the rear windscreen of the minister's car was intact when he was leaving the Vadodara hospital after visiting the injured.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal United (JDU) also demanded Laloo's resignation from the Manmohan Singh Cabinet following the framing of charges against him.

"He should quit on moral ground and face the trial as a common citizen," JDU's Jharkhand unit vice president Praveen Prabhakar said in a statement.

The special CBI court today framed charges against Laloo, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and 68 others in the multi-crore fodder scam.