From Lalu with a hug, a smiling spoiler pill

New Delhi, March 18: RJD chief Lalu Prasad may have just unleashed a fine and oft-forgotten tactic of war on close allies in Bihar. It’s called killing softly and its intended victim is not the carping Congress but the man currently smiling in his embrace — the unsuspecting Ram Vilas Paswan.

On the face of it, the Lok Janshakti Party leader probably has good reason to be wearing a ear-to-ear grin. He has, after all, extracted four more seats out of Lalu this time and retained all his preferred constituencies — “donon haath mein laddoo”, as one of Paswan’s aides put it, his bread’s buttered on both sides.

But Lalu may have slyly laced the prize he handed over to his one-time bete noire with a spoiler pill. It is being widely rumoured that pill is called Sadhu Yadav.

Paswan made light of suggestions that Sadhu’s angry rebellion against the RJD may be part of a devious plot Lalu has hatched to contain the LJP’s growing ambitions and promote his own.

At a news conference to announce film-maker Prakash Jha’s entry to his party this afternoon, Paswan made short work of Sadhu’s revolt and even littler of any import it may bring to bear on his own fortunes: “Sadhu Yadav is a matter for Laluji to handle, I don’t even know whether he is in the RJD or not.”

The issue, however, is no more how Sadhu is impacting Lalu, the issue is how he may impact Paswan. Current company should have brought that home to the LJP boss right away.

Jha, the man being fielded by Paswan from Bettiah, is, after all, a man Lalu has no love lost for.

Remember Jha’s Gangajal? The politico-villain in the 2003 Ajay Devgan starrer was meant to have caricatured Lalu. It left Lalu inflamed and RJD cadres rampaging all across Bihar to prevent the film’s release.

It was only after Jha sued for peace and held a private showing for Lalu that it went into the theatres.

The wound was gone, but perhaps the scars remain. Sadhu’s decision to contest against Jha from Bettiah, many believe, may have something to do with avenging the Gangajal slur. A little encouragement on the side from Lalu and Sadhu could well queer the pitch for Jha and the LJP.

Take a closer look at the seats Sadhu Yadav and his “rebellious” friends from the RJD intend to contest and you might discern a pattern emerging — Ramai Ram (a Dalit and a former Bihar Janata Dal president) against Paswan’s brother, Ramchandra Paswan in Samastipur, former MP Captain Jainarain Nishad against the (undeclared) LJP candidate in high-profile Muzaffarpur, mafia heavyweight Pappu Yadav from Araria or Supaul, both seats handed to the LJP as part of the seat-sharing deal.

Sadhu’s anger, as we are meant to know it, is against his brother-in-law and RJD chief Lalu; his wrath is falling squarely on Paswan and the LJP.

“Wait a few days,” said a Lalu acolyte, winking conspiratorially. “Just watch where all Sadhu Yadav is putting up or threatening to put up rebel candidates and it will be clear who he is aiming at.”

There are those in the LJP, including Paswan, who expect Sadhu to be expelled from the RJD as punishment for open defiance of the seat-sharing arrangement.

Little do they seem to realise that even if Lalu obliges — which he well may to scotch any speculation of an insider deal — nothing prevents Sadhu from spoiling Paswan’s party.

They understand even less that the extended hug Lalu held Paswan in yesterday could actually be a bear hug; it could break Paswan’s back, and he’d still be helplessly smiling.

Source : The Statesman