Like him or dislike him, Lalu is here to stay

He rose to power in caste-riddled Bihar in the 1990s, became scam-tainted and lost his throne in the state, has often been mimicked for his style of speaking, but his return to the political forefront signifies the hold Lalu Prasad exercises over public consciousness, feel people who have seen him from close.

Arun Jee, currently principal at a noted private school in Punjab, and a junior of Lalu’s during the Rahstriya Janata Dal chief’s Patna University days in 1970s, says, “When I saw the results on television, I felt happy, not for any particular party, but for Bihar.”

The resounding victory of the Grand Alliance has also signified the return of this native as kingmaker on the Bihar arena after being pushed to political margins by recent state assembly and Parliamentary elections. Several took to social media to claim though that it will lead to “return of jungle raj”.

Arun says, “Throughout the election, the bogey of ‘jungle raj’ was raised and it is sad that even after the people of Bihar have given their mandate, the Lalu-bashing continues... Maybe, good, bad or ugly remarks, but people cannot ignore this man.”

Jyoti Kumar Sinha from Patna, a former Research and Analysis Wing officer, was in Paris when he had heard the news of Lalu’s ascension to the helm of the state in 1990, and greeted it with great enthusiasm. But over time, he has grown disenchanted with the leader.

“It was something unbelievable. And, his (Lalu’s) rise to power generated a positive excitement across the country. It was a magic of democracy and beginning of a road to social empowerment. And, Lalu’s first term as chief minister was good,” he said.

While Sinha agrees that Lalu did bring a “sense of empowerment”, he alleged that “he squandered a great opportunity to become a statesman, and instead became like any other run-of-the-mill politician”.

One of the children of JP’s ‘Total Revolution’, Lalu’s political journey began in the Jayaprakash Narayan-led student movement that ultimately engulfed the entire nation, leading to the fall of the Indira Gandhi government.

The former chief minister of Bihar has often been pilloried by the press for his unique style of speaking, with many TV show hosts mimicking his diction.

“Contrary to what many think or assume, in and outside of Bihar, I don’t think Lalu’s mannerism in any way degrades Bihar’s image,” said Arun.

 “Lalu used his trademark rustic style of speaking back in his student politics days too, which eventually became his USP.

“He spoke like that because he was speaking to his constituency, the deprived and unpolished and not-refined class -- the deprived community, which looked up to him as their leader,” he added.

Born in 1948 in Phulwaria in north Bihar, Lalu came to Patna in 1954. He enrolled in BN College under PatnaUniversity in 1966 and thus began his affair with student politics. He was the Patna University Students’ Union general secretary from 1967-69.

Ram Kumar, an IT professional based in Gurgaon says, “Lalu did bring social empowerment to lower-caste people, the voice to the marginalised and the subaltern, and that cannot be undermined.

“I hail from a village in Muzaffarpur and belong to the upper caste. In my childhood days, I used to see that people from lower stratas would sit on the ground, while upper caste people sat on chairs. After arrival of Lalu as CM, this started disappearing, and now you go to villages and you can see the change,” he said.

“Lalu’s rise was seen as a threat by many upper caste people because he did not belong to their caste, and that created friction in society, which is somewhat still prevalent,” he added.

Patna-based Ram Bahadur Prasad, who served as district magistrate in -- Kishanganj (1996), Siwan (1997) and Sasaram (1998) and Darbhangha (2001-2003) -- says, “It is unfair to just blame Lalu for the lack of development in the 1990s. The Centre was not giving sufficient funds.

“As for the ‘jungle raj’ issue, while it is true that after his being jailed in mid-90s, the law and order situation did become bad, people cannot today create a fear psychosis by raising the bogey of that era. Things have changed,” he said.

Arun, too, feels that Lalu cannot be solely blamed for the misfortune of Bihar.

“Lalu inherited a broken system, as the slide of Bihar had begun in the mid-1960s only, with United Front government. Education, health, many sectors were in poor shape already. Lalu may have just hastened the pace of decay in 1990s. Even the fodder scam started during Jagannath Mishra’s regime,” he claimed.

“If Lalu did bad things then he also did good things, like his work as railway minister, which no media has raised in their reportage during the polls. And, one has to judge a personality like Lalu, who also rose from humble roots, very objectively and not with blinkers on,” he added.

But like him or dislike him, Lalu seems to be a man who is here to stay.

As if testifying his political relevance, and exhibiting his well-known sense of humour, Lalu had once said, “Jab tak rahega samosay mey aalu, tab tak rahega Bihar mey Lalu (As long as there is potato in the samosa, Lalu, too, will remain in Bihar.”  

Image: Ravi S Sahani/Reuters