Samosey mein aloo: why not Laloo?

If there is one politician in India today who is both icon and conman, then it is Laloo Prasad Yadav.

However, the fact is that he is less good at conning as he is at being an icon. He has been out of power, he has been caught up in scams, he has been belittled, but he has made Bihar chic. He has patented Patna. If the forthcoming elections in the State have got this much prominence it is solely because of the beleaguered hero, Laloo.

With a mere 25 MPs, he is making the Congress dance to his tune. Its list of candidates mentions the caste and creed of each nominee. Is this really shocking? Can we concur with Shaibal Gupta, of the Asian Development Research Institute, when he states, “The Congress, which was an upper caste organisation earlier, now wants to show that it can incorporate the backward and subaltern upsurge in Bihar…’’ and this is only a reinvention strategy? Is this new at all? Why are we trying to make Laloo Prasad shoulder the blame for what exists in society and is used covertly all the time?

With this move, the Congress has come out in the open, and the person to thank is Mr. Yadav.

Dishonesty and corruption are a part of democratic politics. Laloo is upfront about both. You know where you stand with him, and you know where to place him.

We must understand that Laloo is vital for us. It isn’t about basic common sense. He symbolises the pride of those who have been marginalised and are up against almost everything -- hypocrisy, stereotypes and expectations. He may appear brazen, but he is almost guileless in that he does not have a set agenda. In a scenario where everything is pre-ordained, he has made this into his strength. His anti-establishment stand is what keeps him vigilant; I don’t care what his motives are. It could well be to remain in power.

That did not happen, though. President’s rule did nothing to improve the situation. According to available figures, during the March-July 2005 there were 1,045 cases of kidnapping, 1521 cases of murder and 525 cases of dacoity. During Laloo Raj, there were 905 cases of kidnapping, 1,695 cases of murder and 497 cases of dacoity.

Interestingly, the results of the last elections that ended up with a hung assembly and ended 15 years of Laloo-Rabri rule, have been attributed to the fact that migrant Muslims did not vote for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). How could he be called communal at all, then?

If the accusation is that there are about two lakh illegal voters in Bihar, why then did it result in a hung assembly that ended the reign of the village bumpkin and his wife?

In an amazing twist, Rabri Devi found that her husband’s political fate was now in her hands. She left her humdrum existence and jumped into a metaphorical funeral pyre. What did she get for her efforts? Constant digs about her “kitchen cabinet”, insinuations that she was a mere puppet (ironic, since women have never been expected to be more than that in our politics), and sudden concern about how Bihar would go down the drain under this woman’s reign.

Suddenly, she was accused of corruption. Being an unlettered rural woman, she was accused of “aiding and abetting” in Laloo’s crimes whereas the urban and urbane Sonia Gandhi could have her hands clean even if it were proved that the gun deal was greased. Rabri Devi had been co-opted, although it is unlikely that she was even aware of what was happening. Foisted by her husband as the CM, by default her self-esteem shot up.

Laloo as conscience-keeper

Commentators like Arun Nehru who were happy to be a part of a dynasty now have the gumption to talk about the “Yadav dynasty”. They rave and rant about booth capturing and the armed forces being stationed for Bihar elections. How we forget contemporary history and national politics. It was Sanjay Gandhi and his coterie who had mastered the art of booth capturing.

The problem is that these corporate types cannot digest someone who appears to be a hick town maverick. Some people used to be worried about how he would conduct himself on foreign tours. How would he manage his ‘P’s and the peas?

By asking these questions, we sound more rustic than he does. It reveals a certain pettiness where we concentrate on the packaging and forget the contents. I am not saying Laloo Prasad was a superlative chief minister and he has taken Bihar to the forefront.

That would be a lie. But it cannot be denied that this man has done something quite extraordinary -- he has exposed our prejudices while at the same time showing the blind the way.

How many people had the courage to stop L.K.Advani’s Ayodhya rath yatra? How many politicians have the courage to appoint Harijan priests and shankaracharyas? Were these gimmicks and did they not have any impact at all? I think in both instances Yadav wanted to test the Hindu religion.

In a country where 180 million people belong to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, we still have a situation where action for crimes committed against them is slack, despite untouchability being forbidden by law by the Civil Rights Act of 1955 and the Scheduled Caste and Schedules Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. To upturn the status quo that has for centuries been throttling dissent requires commitment. It cannot be only a teaser. Those who were considered the scum of the earth were put in the most sanctified positions. He instilled confidence in them. And, most important of all, he sent out a clear message.

True, he personally abuses power. He does play to the gallery. But those are idiosyncrasies that do not cause national harm. There are thousands of scams happening in every field, including the moralistic boy-scout ones.

If he does things as one to the manner born, then that ought not to go against him. His is a multi-layered approach. If he spends Rs. 5 crore on a rally to show his muscle power, then he has also started schemes to educate the children of shepherds. He used to dress up his youngest son in peacock feathers to project the kid ‘kanhaiyya’, thereby making it unambiguous that his Hindu identity has not been wiped out. He has only made it inclusive and egalitarian.

For years, history has been telling large sections of our society that equality is a myth. In this stagnant pool Laloo Prasad Yadav entered, the only contemporary politician to wake us up at the ground level-- to convey to us about how it was time the times changed. And even if the meek do not inherit the earth they have enough legroom to stand tall.