Lalu: Debar MNS from contesting poll

Stepping up its attack on Raj Thackeray's MNS for its campaign targeting north Indians in Maharashtra, the Rashtriya Janta Dal urged the Election Commission to debar the party from contesting elections.

Stepping up its attack on Raj Thackeray's MNS for its campaign targeting north Indians in Maharashtra, the Rashtriya Janta Dal on Friday urged the Election Commission to debar the party from contesting elections.

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"RJD... Strongly urges the Commission to take immediate action for cancellation of registration of MNS for its unconstitutional activities and debar it from contesting elections so that unity and integrity of our country can be protected," the party said in a letter addressed to the Commission.

The party alleged that MNS chief Raj Thackeray's recent utterances against the north Indians led to serious repercussions in various parts of the country particularly in Bihar, where trains were burnt and railway stations vandalised.

"Parochialism and destructive politics of Raj Thackeray and his outfit MNS are dividing our country on regional and linguistic lines and thus threatening the unity and integrity of the country," the party led by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad added.

Prasad had reacted angrily to the attacks on north Indian candidates allegedly by MNS activists during a railway recruitment exam in Mumbai on Sunday calling Thackeray a "mental case".

The RJD also pointed to the cases lodged against Thackeray in various police stations of Maharashtra for his "unconstitutional and criminal activities".

The letter referred to the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which makes any party liable for penal action if it indulges in anti-national activities or promotes communalism and hatred among people to further its political interests.