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Basharat Peer in Aligarh.
If Samajwadi Party is banking on the star power of the Big B to rake in the votes, the Congress party is hoping that the rustic charm of Bihar strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav will take it past the post first in the Uttar Pradesh hustings.
With people thronging Laloo's rally in Aligarh, the Congress party seems to have found an answer to the star power of Amitabh Bachchan.
His rustic charm, Bihari accent and generous doses of humour had the 8000 plus audience in splits.
Subtly tuning his speech to appeal to the largely Muslim vote bank in Aligarh, Laloo, in a style patented by him, focussed on the recent ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India, in the same breath slamming Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance as a device aimed at the Muslim community.
Calling Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani 'the biggest terrorist', Laloo asked, "If SIMI was banned, why not the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh?"
To thunderous applause from the audience, he called BJP Bharat Jalao Party, reminding the people of the Indian freedom struggle, when Hindus and Muslims fought together.
"And now the BJP and other right wing parties are casting a doubt on the Muslims' loyalty to the nation," he said.
Raising the issue of the purchase of coffins for Kargil martyrs, Laloo termed the BJP government kaffan chors (coffin thieves), contending that the scandal was buried because of the attack on Parliament.
"But" he said, "Parliament is going to be in session again and till the day Laloo will be alive, they (NDA-led government) cannot get away with it."
He criticised the government's foreign policies saying that Vajpayee has bent backwards to please the United States.
Imitating Advani and Vajpayee, Laloo made fun of their statements after the attack on Parliament.
"Aar paar, aar paar ladai hogee aur sena nahin hategee (There will be cross border war and the army won't budge an inch)," Laloo said, waving his hand and tilting his neck sideways like Vajpayee, prompting uproarious laughter from the crowd.
He also criticised the government's stance on madrassas.
"Calling madrassas the dens of terrorism is only an effort to bring a bad name to Muslims," Laloo said.
He moved on to criticise POTO saying Rabri government in Bihar refused to implement it.
"Hum ne kaha Bihar mein koyee POTO ya photo nahin lagega. Ek hee photo lagega, woh secularism ka," he said.
Urging the crowd to vote for the Congress party, Laloo shot a few arrows at Mulayam Singh's move to rope in Amitabh Bachchan to canvass for his party.
"It seems that Mulayam does not want to face the public. It is politics not some theatre show that he is roping in film stars," Laloo said.
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