Lalu to make Bihar shine like Railways

Smelling success for RJD in the current Lok Sabha polls after painful years of wilderness in Bihar and national politics, a confident RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is now promising to make Bihar shine like he did to Indian Railways as railway minister in UPA-I government.

“Jaise railway ko chamkaya, waise Bihar ko shampoo laga ke nahin chamkaya, aur Narendra Modi ko nahin bhagaya, to Lalu Yadav mera naam nahin, (If I do not shine Bihar with shampoo just like I polished the Railways, and if I do not drive out Narendra Modi, then my name is not Lalu Yadav),” said Mr Yadav at a massive RJD rally in Darbhanga on Sunday.

Clearly expecting a revival of the RJD’s fortunes in Bihar due to the regional party’s alliance with the Congress and NCP, Mr Yadav and his aides are already speaking triumphantly, believing that a polarisation of votes along religious and caste lines is set to give their alliance a “major, unprecedented lead”. Polls in 20 of Bihar’s total 40 LS constituencies are over and many believe the RJD-Congress-NCP alliance in Bihar may be faring much better than their critics and rivals had forecast. But both the JD(U) and BJP are dismissing such suggestions as “far from realistic”.

“In the 20 constituencies in Bihar where polls are over now, I have information that massive polling has been recorded (in the RJD and its alliance’s favour) and our alliance’s candidates are set to win with huge margins,” said Mr Yadav at the rally. “Yeh TV wala bolta tha ki Lalu ko teen seat aa raha hai. Ab 25 par pahuncha hai. Chunav hote-hote bolega ki Lalu chaliso seat par jeet gaya. (The TV opinion polls first predicted three seats for Lalu and now predicting 25. When the polls will draw to a close, they will say Lalu won all the 40 seats.),” he added. Mr Yadav, insisting that neither the BJP nor JD(U) are anywhere in a close race with the RJD alliance, said: “I had no idea that Bihar’s people have been so upset (with Nitish Kumar government). I took out a parivartan rally across Bihar before going to jail. I have been warning you from the beginning that these polls are not mere polls but a war about India remaining united or getting fragmented.”

Flaunting his secular credentials, he said: “Lalu does not love power at the cost of communal hatred. I will kick the chair but I will break the heart of rioters.”

Source: Asian Age