Laloo to contest from Chapra too

Just days after announcing that he would contest from Madhepura in the Lok Sabha elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav on Thursday said he would also try his luck from Chapra parliamentary seat presently held by Union Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Virtually launching his election campaign by addressing nearly 20 street-corner meetings between Sonepur and Marhaura in Chapra constituency, Yadav assailed the National Democratic Alliance government for 'insulting' the Lok Sabha by recommending its dissolution just before the beginning of its special session.

"Those who have insulted Parliament will be punished by the people in the coming elections," he said.

Yadav said he was working overtime to sew up a grand secular alliance to defeat the 'communal' NDA in the polls. The country's economy, unity and integrity were in 'jeopardy' because of NDA's policies.

The RJD leader termed as mere 'image-building' exercise the ongoing peace initiative of the government vis-à-vis Pakistan. "Had elections not been round the corner Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would probably have not met General Pervez Musharraf during the SAARC summit," he said.