The state police has turned a Nelsons eye to the excesses being committed by the political managers of Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in their efforts to make tomorrows 'railla, a carefully contrived bhojpuri word to describe a mega-rally, of the poor at the Gandhi Maidan here a success.
The lead managers in this mega exercise are Sadhu Yadav and Subhash Yadav, the two brothers-in-law of the Chief Minister. Anirudh Prasad, alias Sadhu Yadav, who is also a member of the Upper House of the state legislature, had recently organised a sonta (baton) march to garner support for the Chief Minister. Not to be outdone, the younger, Subhash Yadav, has put up a large hoarding in the heart of the state capital euologising the Bihar Chief Minister as Indias Mandela.
The hoarding says that the native Mandela is the chela (disciple) of Jaya Prakash Narayan, who has seen poverty, has played a number of games and is now hosting a mela (fair) for the poor which will not be a mere rally but railla (mega rally) of the poor for others to see. Khadi-clad ruling party workers can be seen driving into petrol pumps with their fleet of vehicles for free fuel. Refusal to supply free fuel had resulted in the ransacking of a petrol pump here on Tuesday. Following this, the Bihar Petroleum Dealers Association formally lodged a complaint with director-general of police S K Saxena. With no police protection provided as yet, the petroleum dealers are being forced to down their shutters. They have even threatened to close their outlets a few days before the proposed rally. This scenario is being enacted all over the state.
Till date, people were being advised against travelling by trains in Bihar. Now it has changed into do not travel at all. Private buses are the prime target of the Janata Dal (JD) workers. They are being commandeered at will. The passenger are a harassed lot. The JD workers, in a bid to prove their solidarity with the Chief Minister, have also not spared government vehicles. A few days ago, a senior official of the tourism department telephoned the office of the water resources development minister with a request to get the vehicles released from the custody of the partymen at Ranchi. However, the minister was not present in his office. Thousands of welcome arches, tent townships in girls colleges and other places, banners and colourful hoardings, and loudspeakers blaring earthy folk songs beckoning the poor to March 18 rally have become order of the day.
The national JD president and the Bihar supremo, meanwhile is on a whistlestop tour of the state, extending his personal nyouta (invitation) to the downtrodden. Bhari intizam hai (the arrangements are heavy) he tells his audience in the remotest corners of Bihar in his typical style. Song and dance, flattened rice, grounded gram, jaggery and water would be available for the rallyists in plenty, promises the Chief Minister while talking about providing pucca houses and saree and dhotis, and red cards for free ration supply to the poor at his public meetings throughout the state.
The opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are accusing the JD of misusing the official machinery for the rally. District magistrates, too, are working as the agents of the ruling party, alleged Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, who is also the leader of the opposition in the assembly.
The state vice-president and the spokesperson of the JD, Vijay Krishna, MLA, on the contrary, denied that the party had launched an extortion drive and official machinery was being misused.
The poor people of Bihar will ensure the success of the railla and prove the popularity of Laloo Prasad Yadav to the nation on March 18, he claimed. He accused the BJP and other opposition parties of spreading a canard against the rally for petty political gains.
