Friday, October 7 2005 17:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti today (Oct 7, 2005) accused Bihar Governor Buta Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of having 'misled' President A P J Abdul Kalam to secure his consent for dissolution of the state Assembly and demanded thier apologies to the people for foisting another election on the state.

''Buta Singh and the Prime Minister misled the President into believing that horse trading was going on in Bihar to obtain his consent for dissolution of the Assembly for which they as also United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi should apologies to the people of the state,'' Bharti told a news conference.

She said that the Prime Minister should voluntarily step down in the wake of the apex court judgement declaring the dissolution as unconstitutional.

Recalling that the Congress Government, led by Indira Gandhi, had clamped Emergency following Allahabad High Court' judgement setting aside her election from Rae Bareli, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said, ''The Congress' image of being a murderer of democracy has been reinforced by today's judgement.''

The firebrand leader also demanded that Buta Singh and the Prime Minister compensate for the monetary loss the state had suffered as a result of fresh polls.