Lalu Prasad under fire for fielding Misa, says Giridhar Jha
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad looks to his daughter Misa Bharti as a progressive, young face of RJD who will help him strengthen the party.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad is in the firing line these days for fielding his eldest daughter Misa Bharti from the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. His loyalists have risen in revolt accusing him of blatantly pursing dynasty politics despite professing his lifelong commitment to the cause of social justice.
But Lalu, as expected, remains unfazed. He refused to withdraw the candidature of his daughter and field his long-time confidant Ram Kripal Yadav - a dedicated party worker - in her place.
This should not have come as a surprise but many disgruntled RJD leaders are expressing their disgust these days over the 'undemocratic manner' in which Lalu is running the party. But they have probably forgotten the fact that Lalu has never run his organisation in deference to the wishes of his party leaders in the past 24 years. From Nitish Kumar in the early 1990s to Ram Kripal Yadav now, many senior leaders have quit the party over the years citing Lalu's autocratic style of functioning. But he remains unapologetic about it even now. "Whoever wants to go can go now," he said when he came to know about the resignation of a senior party leader the other day. "Can you force anybody to stay back if he has already made up his mind to leave?"
Given his track record, anybody who joins the RJD should be willing to abide by the diktats of the party boss. Anybody who dissents is free to go elsewhere. This is not a new phenomenon, though. When he was about to be jailed in the fodder scam way back in July 1997, there were many claimants with considerable clout who fancied their chances of becoming the next chief minister but Lalu chose to prop up his homemaker wife Rabri Devi without consulting anybody. Rabri went on to rule Bihar for the next seven-and-ahalf years - with or without the murmurs of protests in the party.
It was, therefore, hardly an unusual move on his part when Lalu brought his daughter to contest the polls recently. He has done it at a time when he is facing multiple challenges. Firstly, he has been convicted in the fodder scam case and cannot contest the polls now. Secondly, Rabri does not appear to be too keen to lead the party from the front. Thirdly, he cannot afford to give the party's rein to any of the seasoned leaders such as Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagdanand Singh and Prabhunath Singh because of the all-pervasive caste factor in Bihar politics. Given its support base, he knows that his party has to be led by a Yadav leader. And if the leader comes from within his own family, there is nothing like it.
It is against this background that Lalu has catapulted Misa into the poll arena even at the costs of alienating somebody as loyal as Ram Kripal Yadav.
Lalu has already introduced two of his sons - Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav - to politics but they are too young to be given any major responsibility at the moment. Tej Pratap looks like a reluctant entrant into politics like his mother but his younger brother Tejashwi is his father's big hope for the future.
As of now, it is Misa who has emerged as Lalu's best bet to showcase the next generation of his party. He apparently looks to her as a progressive, young face of RJD who would help him run and strengthen the party.
In the 1990s, Lalu had taken great pains to make his eldest daughter a doctor. Misa went on to obtain an MBBS degree but she always seemed to be waiting in the wings to follow in her father's footsteps.
Time will tell whether she will be finally able to live up her father's expectations by proving her political acumen but she is definitely going to play a key role in Bihar politics to further her father's political agenda. Those having reservations about dynastic politics are free to leave the RJD and look for democratic values and traditions elsewhere. Lalu would not mind!
Jailed neta turns poet
Times have certainly changed in Bihar. There was a time when Anand Mohan was a force to reckon with in the state politics, especially during election time. Leaders from different parties used to seek favours from the former MP because of his alleged money-andmuscle power. But he appears to be a spent force now. He has been cooling his heels in jail for the past eight years after being sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiyah killing case. Anand is, at present, making use of his literary talent behind bars to remain in public memory. His second anthology of Hindi poems, Swadhin Abhivyakti (Independent Expressions) was released recently by the noted Urdu poet Gulzar Dehalvi in Patna. His first collection of poems, Qaid Mein Azad Kalam (Pen is free behind bars) was released with a lot of fanfare in Delhi two years ago. In November last, Anand's long-time rival Pappu Yadav had also released his autobiography, Drohkal ka Pathik which he had penned during his imprisonment.
SANJAY Gandhi Biological Park, popularly known as Patna Zoo, houses different species of animals and birds but it is in the news these days for the visit of the proverbial stork. The five-year-old Swarna, a white tigress who was brought from Hyderabad zoo in 2011, has given birth to four cubs causing jubilation among the zoo officials. Nobody except a zoo keeper and a veterinary doctor is allowed to go near them these days. The zoo administration is watching their movements through CCTV cameras so that the tigress and her cubs are not disturbed. Since the first month after birth is very crucial, they are taking no chances. In 2012, Swarna had given birth to three cubs but none of them could survive because of a fatal disease. The zoo officials had called an expert from Guwahati but to no avail. It was after 19 years that a tigress had given birth to a cub at Patna zoo at that time.
Padma Shri's home ransacked
Sharda Sinha, Bihar's most popular folk singer, was in for a shock when she returned home in Patna the other day. She found the doors of her house broken and all her household items strewn all over. She soon realised that the burglars had taken away her hard-earned money - Rs 1.5 lakh in cash and ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh - while she was away. The Padma Shri awardee, whose Maithili and Bhojpuri songs are extremely popular in the state, was not at her house for two nights when the incident took place. In her absence, the thieves broke into her house at the posh Rajendra Nagar locality but nobody in her neighbourhood knew about it. The police have since pressed sniffer dogs and called a team of the forensic science laboratory (FSL) personnel to nab the criminals but no breakthrough has been made so far. The police suspect the hand of a local gang that probably kept a watch on the singer's movement.
The cops are now hoping to crack the case soon but the daring theft in a celebrity's house has given the Opposition an opportunity to hit out at the state government over the 'deteriorating' law and order situation in Patna.