Page 1 news: Laloo talks development

never thought he needed development rhetoric to win elections. He is one man who has translated every deprivation of the state into a political opportunity. Beyond Patna city there is hardly electricity anywhere. That’s one reason the kerosene lantern is his party RJD’s election symbol. Travelling over 200 km to Siwan or Motihari or Bhagalpur from Patna by road takes eight to 12 hours, and Laloo would blame it on the Centre. ‘‘Tum bachcha hei. Development ke liye koi vote deta hei?,’’ Laloo used to snub anyone who asked him about development. Election after election, he proved his point.

Laloo’s disinterest in matters of governance and ‘‘IT-fyT’’ has been genuine. But his recent development concerns are an indication of Bihar’s political pulse which none senses better than Laloo. Caste has not faded away, but there is more than it, however peripherally, in this election—development. The string of Union government projects being started in the state in high-profile functions got the people to sit back and think. In the last six months, the Prime Minister, the deputy prime minister and the President visited Bihar twice each to inaugurate huge rail projects, power plants etc.

Rail Minister Nitish Kumar who doesn’t stand a chance to confront Laloo’s caste combine has successfully projected himself as the Vikas Purush of Bihar. ‘‘Laloo is the central factor of Bihar politics. Those who support him and those who oppose him—this is the divide. And our development works are visible and people will respond by supporting us in the elections,’’ says Kumar, who scraped through in the last Parliament elections. ‘‘They have begun to talk of development,’’ he says of Laloo.

	His balance sheet
			FOR LALOO • Formidable social base of the Muslim-Yadav combination comprising nearly 28 per cent of the population, and Laloo’s charisma. • From the last election tally, he can only improve. AGAINST LALOO • Lack of development, resentment among the public about soaring crime and corruption, bad roads and lack of electricity. • Managing the internal contradictions within his party and the alliance will take all the skills of Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Ignoring this may be costly for Laloo, and he knows it best. The second trigger in Bihar’s B-S-P (bijli-sadak-pani) debate is its highly mobile migrants—who return home with stories of ‘IT-FyT’’ in Bangalore, shopping malls of Gurgaon, Metro rail of Delhi etc. These youngsters are not always impressed by Laloo’s theatrics and caste consolidation.

‘‘Lalooji has given us samman (honour). Now he should give us vikas,’’ a young Yadav of Chapra—where Laloo will fight the Parliament election, says. ‘‘In Bihar these basic issues of development rarely concerned the public, because they were not aware of the deprivation. Now more and more people realise what they are missing,’’ says Shaibal Gupta of Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), Patna.

Defeat of the Congress governments in the recent elections also alerted Laloo. He would like some semblance of development in the state he has been ruling for more than a decade. In early 2005, or may be even earlier, he will have to seek re-election in the state.