Monday, April 25 2005 12:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today (Apr 25, 2005) demanded dismissal of Railway Minister Laloo Prasad from Union Cabinet following his being chargesheeted in fodder scam.

A meeting of the Opposition alliance, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also decided to "expose the falsehood being spread by the Railway Minister against the Gujarat Government over the alleged attack on him at Samalaya last week".

"Charges have been framed against Laloo and his associates under various sections including cheating and fraud. A Union Minister had to appear before a court and therefore the Prime Minister should dismiss him forthwith," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters in New Delhi after a 30-minute long meeting of the alliance leaders.

Malhotra said NDA would raise both the issues vociferously in both houses of Parliament.

Malhotra described Laloo Prasad's version of the attack on him at Samlaya as "the lie of the century".

Claiming that forensic report has shown that rear screen of Laloo's car was broken from inside and not outside, the BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha said, "He (Laloo) has put Goebbles to shame".

BJP's fact-finding Parliamentary team which visited the site and probed the alleged attack found Laloo's claims to be "totally false", he said.

Malhotra said the team leader and party Vice President S K Modi would put forth his report before Parliament.

Meanwhile, Modi moved a notice before Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to raise the fodder scam issue in Parliament.

Taking exception to a chargesheeted Union Minister continuing in office, Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Prabhunath Singh said the alliance would exert pressure, both inside and outside Parliament, for Laloo's removal.

The meeting was attended among others by NDA Convenor George Fernandes, BJD leader P K Tripathy, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Yerran Naidu and BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha and S S Ahluwalia.