I brought Musharraf to the peace table: Laloo

MANDATE 2004

, you cannot expect Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav not to counter the "India Shining" campaign in his underdeveloped constituency.

Laloo counters the "feel good" campaign with his own slogan: "Jebi mein anna nahin, pet mein dana nahin, sar chipane ko ashiyana nahin, kal karkhana nahin, aur kahte hain feel good" (They are claiming feel good when people do not have money in their pockets, are hungry, are homeless and there are no industries).

The RJD chief, who along with his wife and chief minister Rabri Devi has ruled the state for over 14 years, is strangely talking economics, when virtually no new manufacturing facilities have come up in the state.

But the former chief minister's campaign is aimed more at puncturing the feel good balloon and shifting blame for the state's underdevelopment on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.

After instructing drummers and his party workers, including ministers, to keep quite and pay attention to the function, Laloo spends time chatting with people. Having finished with his paan, he gets down to business, often threatening people that he will have their names deleted from the voters list if they do not pay attention.

Laloo usually begins his address by attacking the BJP's Hindutva strategy, then moves to Gujarat riots and attacks Narendra Modi on the recent Supreme Court decision in the Best Bakery case. In between, he launches an offensive on the RSS and Nathuram Godse saying, "Bapu hum shrminda hain apke hatyare abhi bhi zinda hain."

Laloo potrays himself as the successor to some leaders. "Bapu humse cheen liye gaye, Vinoba Bhave, Jawahar Lal Nehru. Jayprakash Narayan nahin rahe," he says and goes on to add even the Congress president has left it to him to run the campaign in Bihar.

Laloo then moves over to economics, first blaming the NDA for not compensating Bihar after the creation of Jharkhand, then attacking them on disinvestment (for selling family silver at rock bottom prices), before moving on to the closure of fertiliser unit in Barauni.

Laloo then pulls out a paper from his pocket and starts comparing prices of products like fertiliser, diesel and kerosene in 1999, when the NDA government took over and the present price.

"Shaadi mein motorcycle aur gypsy diya jaata hai, jo petrol se chalta hai who bhi ab 35-40 rupaye mein milta hai," he says. (Petrol used in bikes and motorcycles that is given as dowry now sells for Rs 35-40 a litre).

The law and order situation, employment and development are not on his agenda for the moment. The only mention of setting up of new industries comes, when he says the companies situated in other parts of the country, which are already facing water scarcity, will shift to Bihar given the high water table. "We have underground water, which is like diesel for us. Industries are bound to come up here," Laloo says.

Asking voters not to support the NDA's economic policy, he says the Food Corporation of India is not procuring from the state because RJD does not support the coalition at the Centre. "Who gets the minimum support price? Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, Jayalalithaa, and farmers in Punjab. We are told that the grains produced by farmers in Bihar in inferior," says Laloo.

Laloo adds the country is flooded with butter, cheese, milk, fresh and packed food items imported from the US. "The government is only following a US-led strategy and if we do not iron out our differences with Pakistan, the US, which is a large fish will gobble up the two small fishes, just as they have taken control of Iraq," says Laloo.

He tries to make the crowd believe that the recent India-Pakistan peace initiative is also his brainchild and it was he who had asked the Parvez Musharraf to join the peace process.

But the former chief minister, who is contesting against two central ministers - Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Chapra and Sharad Yadav in Madepura - never fails to remind the rural electorate of his role in the Mandal Commission and says that had he joined hands with the BJP, he would not have had to face the fodder scam probe.

Laloo, who has been holding six-seven public meetings a day across the state, using choppers, shifts to his rath (there is a Yuva Rath, a Garib Rath and a Garib Chetna Rath) for his ride back to Patna in the evening.