NEW DELHI, 7 September 2004 — Countering personal attacks on him by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav again alleged yesterday that senior BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was an accused in a case of conspiracy to kill Pakistan’s founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

“Advani is an accused in a conspiracy case to kill Jinnah. He is an international absconder,” the RJD leader charged.

“This fact is very much available on the Internet. Anybody can have access it,” he claimed at a press conference here and asked Advani to explain his position on the issue.

“Advani and the National Democratic Alliance partners are making a hue and cry over removal of so-called ‘tainted’ ministers in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet. They should look into themselves before leveling charges against others... They themselves are not clean,” Lalu alleged.

Meanwhile, Lalu has stirred up a new controversy saying he would depute a lawyer to keep a watch on the Nanavati Commission which is probing the cause and effect of the post-riots scenario in Godhra. He implied that the ongoing probe by the Nanavati panel was an eyewash.

On Veer Savarkar, he said the BJP icon was not a true patriot as he had sought pardon from the British to be released from jail.

Computer Friendly

Lalu has found a new ally in Internet in the fight against his sworn political foe, the Bharatiya Janata Party. He no longer dismisses IT out of hand mumbling “what IT-YT?” or treats computer as an elite tool, but uses it to full advantage in BJP bashing. Sources close to his family say he has been making good use of Internet for the last several months.

Lalu’s new love for Internet is evident in that he often suggests to media persons to download material from Internet. He also makes regular reference to material downloaded from Internet while interacting with his party workers.

Sources said Lalu’s love for Internet is a good sign for Bihar because he plans to develop IT centers across the state.

Lalu’s two sons-in-law are IT professionals and his grandchildren are also IT savvy. Not lagging behind, his wife and Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi has also taken to computers keenly.