NEW DELHI, July 9: Prime Minister I K Gujral showed signs of reversing his stand on the ticklish issue of retaining three controversial ministers in his government today after majority of United Front partners made it clear that Rashtriya Janata Party's entry into the front could be considered only after Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav resigned.

Although Gujral had boldly made a statement yesterday that RJD was a part of the UF and he would not remove the three Union Ministers owing allegiance to Laloo, he is on the brink of washing his hands off with Kanti Singh, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Jai Narain Nishad as the date of the UF steering committee meeting has been fixed for July 17.

A beaming Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet told The Indian Express tonight,``there is no threat to the UF government on the issue. I am sure, the Prime Minister will respond to reason before the UF meeting.'' He disclosed that the leaders will be meeting Gujral tonight.

Surjeet has re-established his authority in the UF by completely isolating Gujral on the issue today. While Gujral's own Janata Dal made it clear last night that RJD is not part of the Front, Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's spokesman Amar Singh expressed similar sentiments today.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu held an hour-long talk with the Prime Minister yesterday and gave him an indication on what was cooking in the UF. Naidu is learnt to have told Gujral that the situation would become precarious if not handled in time. Naidu also called on Surjeet in the wake of the threat issued by the four Left parties to walk out of the Front if Gujral did not relent. He prevailed upon Surjeet not to precipitate the issue.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who is expected in the Capital, would also prefer to go by the majority. Except for Ajit Singh of the Bhartiya Kisan Kamgar Party, none was willing to support Gujral in the UF.

Going by the trend, Gujral decided to play safe and hence announced at a rally in Badayun that he was not with the corrupt and may ask the three RJD ministers to resign before the meeting of the UF. He also said he had no differences with the Left on the issue.

It seems that Sharad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan who accompanied the Prime Minister today succeeded in persuading him to change his stance on the Laloo Yadav issue.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.