Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad might have looked frail while addressing party leaders and workers virtually on July 5 from the residence of his elder daughter Misa Bharti in Delhi, but his nearly 30-minute address sent many messages to them as they sat glued to their TV screens and mobile phones with occasional smile and pep on their faces.
The ailing Mr. Prasad appeared frail and spoke sometimes with a disconnect in his voice, but his indefatigable political zeal and rustic charm pepped up the party workers to chant intermittently ‘Lalu Yadav zindabad’ at the party headquarters in Patna.
“I’ll die but won’t retreat”, he said and party workers stood up to shout ‘zindabad’. He assured them that he would come to Patna soon and travel across Bihar to meet them.
While taking potshots at the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s partners, the BJP and the JD(U) in Bihar, Mr. Prasad used a Bhojpuri idiom which drew laughter from the party workers and leaders and a puckish smile on his face too. “Moosh motaaheehen, lodha hohiyen [if a rat becomes fat, it will only become a stone pestle]” which roughly implies that “even if they [BJP-JD(U)] grow, they would not grow much”.
Mathura temple issue
And, the very next moment he reflected his secular thought while attacking the BJP for destroying the social fabric of the country. “After Ayodhya, people [in power] are talking about Mathura [temple issue]. Do they want the nation to be destroyed,” he asked in his inimitable style.
Besides, Mr. Prasad touched upon all burning issues of unemployment, unprecedented price rise of essential commodities, devastation caused by COVID-19 pandemic, untamed crime and corruption under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and mass migration of poor people from the State.
But, he lauded both his sons for their “knowledgeable and forceful” speech while taking names of senior party leaders who were present on the occasion at the party office in Patna as ‘purane saathi [old friends]’. Mr. Prasad also recalled how he named his party the Rashtriya Janata Dal as suggested by none other than former Karnataka Chief Minister and socialist leader Ramakrishna Hegde.
He said that he was still under medical care and there were some restrictions in his diet. “Otherwise, I’m alright and improving and very soon I’ll be among you all”, he said and his assertion instantly caught the imagination of those in the political circle.
Once his address was over, smiles were visible on the faces of each and every RJD leader and worker gathered at the party office on July 5 to celebrate the RJD’s silver jubilee foundation day.
“The moment he comes to Bihar, he will cause a stir in State politics. No other leader in Bihar today is a mass leader than Lalu Prasad. He still has that charisma to make an instant connection with the masses and make party leaders sink their differences, if any,” said a senior party leader.
“One can love or hate Lalu Prasad for whatever reason he has, but no one can dismiss him politically from Bihar as long as he is alive and this always can make a difference in the State’s politics anytime,” said political analyst Ajay Kumar.
