A mother-of-Laloo tribute in Bihar

‘‘Gopalganj ke Phulwaria gaon main apne pati Shri Kundan Rai ke sath vishmathaon main athik parishram, thyag evam grahasth jeevan ko sakar karte huey June 11, 1948, ko shoshit pidithon ke masiha ke roop main Shri Laloo Yadav ko janam diya, jo kuldip ke roop main sare jagat main prakashvan hain’’ (In Phulwaria village of Gopalganj, with her husband Kundan Rai, overcoming great difficulties and through untiring labour, making her home life a success, on June 1, 1948, she gave birth to the messiah of the downtrodden Laloo Yadav, who is illuminating the world like a beacon).’’

Razak proudly says the whole idea was his and he felt it was something that had to be done. ‘‘The sanskar (values) comes from his mother and when Lalooji became CM, he brought Lohia and Karpoori Thakur’s dreams alive.’’

He adds reverentially: ‘‘It was his mother who gave birth to him.’’ Officially, the 4,168-sq ft guesthouse is to be used for community functions and hence is financed from Razak’s MLA fund. Laloo and his family are, of course, not newcomers to flattery. Apart from RJD members, all actors and entertainers who have come to the state have sung paens to Bihar’s ruling family. Among Laloo’s most recent admirers were actress Sudha Chandran and ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, who had come here to perform at the Rajgir festival. Chandran had seized the opportunity to declare: ‘‘I have come first to meet the RJD chief and then to perform, in that order.’’

But there may be one thing in Razak’s gift that Laloo may not appreciate. It reveals his date of birth, which the RJD chief had so far kept a closely guarded secret.