Vajpayee: On the offensive

Patna, Jan. 27: The NDA today attempted to convert the abduction of school students into an election issue and advised the people that a hung Assembly will seal the ?future? of Bihar.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led the fusillade from Bhagalpur and said a government that fails to provide security to its people, especially children, should be ?confined to the dustbin?.

?Kahan hai Kislay? Kahan hai Deepak? (Where are Kislay and Deepak?) We will have to shut down the business of this government. Officials are acting as middlemen in the rising cases of abductions,? Vajpayee told a mammoth election meeting.

Quoting the Ramayana, the BJP veteran said: ?A ruler who cannot provide security is destined to go to hell. This government has never worked honestly. It needs to be shown its place. From the black phase, we must move to the golden period,? Vajpayee said.

In Patna, Laloo Prasad Yadav said Vajpayee was raising the issue of kidnapping because the NDA was without any issues in the elections. ?He should not play double games. How many children died in Gujarat riots? Vajpayee then talked of raj dharma, which was never enforced,? the RJD chief said.

Reminded that Vajpayee was calling Kislay his son, Laloo Prasad said: ?He is our child too. Is he not a child of Rabri Devi??

Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar also played up the issue and said: ?I have been saying this for some time now. If Laloo Prasad can stop riots, he can also stop the abductions. He should have all the details but why is he not acting??

Earlier, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said here that a hung Assembly would not solve the problems of Bihar and the state would slip into further anarchy.

Nitish promised that if an NDA government comes to office in Bihar, it would not depend on the Centre. ?We will make our own plans and policies. There is no dispute within the NDA regarding the chief minister?s post. The moment we come to power, we will announce our CM,? he said.