Lalu not happy with UPA

In a sign that more problems were in the store for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh than just an angry Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and railway minister Lalu Prasad today said he was "unhappy" with the way the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was functioning.

Not just did Yadav declare his unhappiness over the way privatisation was being handled, but that there were deviations from the common minimum programme of the UPA.

"I also have grievances over the implementation of the common minimum programme. We have asked for a package, we have asked for the prevention of flooding from Nepal and also drainage for north Bihar," he said.

"It has been three months, we are still in a process of implementation," he said showing his impatience with the UPA government.

Significantly, he did not appear to be unhappy with the inclusion of World Bank officials in the Panning Commission. "The best brains in and outside the country should be used for the nation's development," the RJD chief said.

He appealed to the Liberhan Commission to summon the two journalists of Time magazine, Anita Pratap and Jefferson Penworthy, for their "revelations" about the role of former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and others in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

"The two journalists, disguised as kar sewaks, witnessed the role of Advani, Uma Bharti and others in the demolition and got it published in the magazine, dated December 21, 1992," he said.

"It is the responsibility of the commission to invite them as 'vital witness' before the commission," he said.

He said Advani, who denied any role in the demolition, Bharti and others allegedly involved in the case should also be called afresh before the commission probing the conspiracy angle of the demolition.

He also called Advani an "absconder" in the Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah murder case. "There were six accused in the case one of them was Advani," he said.

BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu, meanwhile, termed the allegations "cheap and dirty" and refused to respond to it.