Yadavs feel the heat in Madhepura

BIHAR BALLOT

Nothing showcases Laluraj better than Madhepura, a district RJD chief Lalu Prasad has represented in the Lok Sabha.

The road to Madhepura from Saharsa is in such a state that it can at best ensure a perilous journey""an apt reflection of the dismal level of development in the state.

On reaching Madhepura, the Yadav swagger is almost palpable. Fifteen years of RJD rule has put the community on fast track to upward mobility. Sociologist MN Srinivas's theory of Sanskritisation""that castes seek to upgrade their status by imitating the mannerisms of the socially superior""is well in evidence.

Yadavs under Laluraj have come to occupy important positions in government, business, culture and, even, crime. It is this clout that Lalu is holding to ransom to keep his electoral flock together.

According Dilip Singh Yadav, who started off as a cycle repairman and now runs a gas agency in Madhepura, the message to the Yadav community has been made clear: vote Lalu or lose advantages.

"During Buta Singh's rule and now under the very tough regime of the Election Commissioner, it has become clear that our progress is in Lalu Yadav's hands," he says.

Buta Singh's initial moves like getting Lalu Yadav's brothers-in-law Subhash and Sadhu Yadav to vacate their official bungalows were as scary as the lack of respect shown to Dilip Yadav when he approached the local administration to sort out a matter of land grabbing.

"Jo aadmi hamare saamne khada ho kar baat karta tha, ab line mein lagne ko kah raha tha (the official who used to get up from his seat in front of me now wanted me to get in line)," he says.

Lalu Yadav, however, is right to be worried: only one out of the five assembly segments of the Madhepura constituency voted for the RJD in the last assembly elections. The remaining four went into the Janata Dal (united) kitty.

Party leaders close to Prasad believe that the benefits the Yadav community received because of the RJD connection has raised the community's aspirations for more.

"Now ruling the tender mafia is not enough. These people want good roads, so that their newly acquired cars don't close down; schools, so that their children don't have to travel to Patna for education and the list goes on. It is like a brahm pishach (genie) which has been let loose," says Akhtar Hussain, a local teacher.

Prasad is probably hoping that Madhepura's discontent does not mirror that of Bihar's.