Wednesday, May 18 2005 14:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Lashing out at Bihar Governor Buta Singh for his allegation of horse-trading by parties to form a majority, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (May 18, 2005) bluntly told Singh that he lacked 'moral authority' to say this as he himself was convicted in the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha (JMM) bribery case and awarded three-year imprisonment besides being fined Rs 2 lakh on the charge of "horse trading of JMM MPs to save the P V Narsimha Rao Government".

''A person who himself was convicted in the JMM bribery case, awarded three-year imprisonment and fined Rs 2 lakh on the charge of horse trading of MPs is levelling such allegation,'' the BJP national vice-president, Sushil Kumar Modi, told reporters.

Singh had "no moral authority" to rake up the issue time and again, Modi said adding it was a different matter that Buta Singh was later acquitted.

He asked Singh to make public the names and parties indulging in horse-trading or else stop issuing statements that was against the sanctity of the post of the Governor.

The BJP leader also charged Singh with "acting at the behest of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) to frustrate the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) bid to install a popular Government in Bihar".

''Singh is dead against installation of a popular Government as he himself wants to rule the State,'' Modi alleged.

Laloo 'neck-deep' in scams: BJP

Stepping up offensive against Laloo Prasad also, BJP charged him with being involved 'neck-deep' in forestalling a vigilance probe into yet another scam relating to gross irregularities in the purchase and supply of blankets worth about Rs 40 crore for below poverty line people in Bihar during winter of 2002-2003.

Describing the 15-year rule of the Laloo-Rabri duo as one "full of scams", Modi told reporters that the blanket scam has come into focus after the unearthing of a series of scams - the fodder scam, bitumen scam, dhoti-sari scam and the flood-relief scam involving several RJD leaders and senior bureaucrats.

Modi said a senior IAS official and managing director of Bihar State Financial Corporation (BSFC) Anita Paul in her report to the industry department secretary on October 1, 2003 had recommended an inquiry by the State vigilance investigation bureau into the irregularities relating to purchase and supply of the blankets involving an expenditure of over Rs 1.4 crore in December 2002.

''But the State Government shelved Paul's report and preferred to sit idle instead of processing the files for a vigilance probe,'' he said alleging that the inquiry was forestalled at the behest of Laloo Prasad ''who was the de facto Chief Minister at that time''.

Modi alleged that several RJD leaders in collusion with the district magistrates of their respective districts had managed to receive orders for supply of the blankets and ''the power-that-be at that time provided patronage to them in the loot of public money''.

Modi said the magnitude of the scam might be about Rs 40 crore throughout Bihar as Rs 1.4 crore was spent on purchase of blankets for Patna district alone.

''Laloo's role in the scam should also be probed thoroughly,'' the BJP leader demanded.