As a shocked nation watched the BJP MPs displaying wads of one thousand rupee currency notes in the Lok Sabha with disbelief, the ruling UPA was completely taken aback and its only leader to go on the offensive straightway was the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.
Shortly after the
opposition charged the ruling alliance with trying to bribe MPs, Lalu rubbished the allegations. He termed it as a “drama by those who were about to the exposed for offering money to others”.
While Lalu launched a frontal attack on the BJP, top Congress leadership including the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee went into a huddle, in a bid to revise the party's strategy ahead of the trust vote.
Earlier, participating in the debate on the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Lalu stole the limelight with a lively speech in which he attacked the Left parties for their “adamant attitude” on the nuclear deal.
Rejecting the Left opposition to the nuclear deal, Lalu said: “The Hyde Act is not applicable to us, we have also read the draft agreement, don't be misguided. Try to understand that nuclear facilities would help in infrastructure development.”
Lalu said the Left ideology had become outdated and required a revision. “The Left ideology is not applicable to India, for us, the ideology of Mahatama Gandhi is the best,” he said.
Turning to his favourite opponent BJP leader L K Advani, Lalu said: “The basis on which Advani ji was opposing the deal was not known. He says he would renegotiate the deal when he comes to power, that is his real problem”.