Lalu Prasad Yadav
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Biographical highlights
The Times of India, Nov 09 2015
Can't contest for 11 years but Lalu wins match for Nitish
Despite an uncertain future following his conviction in the fodder scam (he's currently out on bail), Lalu proved in 2015 that he remains one of the principal poles of Bihar politics. This even though his conviction renders him ineligible for contesting elections for at least six years after he finishes serving the five-year sentence. This election was yet another milestone in the life of the cow herd who has exploited his caste identity , inimitable communication skills and political cunning to craft an odds-defying political career. His street smartness became evident when he moved from his village to live in the frugal peons' quarters of Patna Veterinary College, where his brothers were employed. He soon became a successful student leader. Lalu's ideological moorings were not that strong, but he more than made up for that with his flamboyance and people skills. On March 18, 1974, when police fired upon student protesters leading to several deaths, Lalu declared himself dead. He passed on the “information“ to newspaper offices, besides telling milkmen to spread the word about the death of a “prominent Yadav leader“. Tthe episode helped him create curiosity about himself, Lalu admitted. Imprisonment during Emergency--he named his first child Misa because he had been detained under Maintenance of Internal Security Act--lent him a seriousness that many thought he had lacked till then. It also propelled him to Lok Sabha in 1977. He lost the LS election in 1980 and 1984, but won the So nepur assembly seat in consecutive elections. The untimely demise of socialist giant Karpoori Thakur in 1988 helped Lalu become leader of opposition: a breakthrough achieved with the help of Nitish Kumar. He got elected to LS in 1989 but his heart was set on Patna. The 1990 state elections saw Janata Dal eking out a narrow victory, and Lalu became CM. His unconventional style created ripples. He would land in government offices for what he called “auchak nirikshan“ or “surprise inspections“, and summon fire tenders to hose mud-caked kids in Dalit `bastis'. Even as bureaucrats tried to come to terms with the man who found files a pain and was more comfortable sitting cross-legged in lungi and khadi vest with the ubiquitous spittoon not far away , Lalu caught the imagination of the masses, Yadavs as well as OBCs. The excitement was about to wear thin when Devi Lal fell out with V P Singh. But Lalu and other Tau proteges like Nitish switched support to V P Singh in exchange for his commitment to implemen the Mandal Commission re port. This established him as the leader of OBCs. The sup port of OBCs and Muslims helped him sweep the 1991 LS elections and, later, survive the revolt by Nitish. He won the 1995 state elections on his own steam and seemed set to realise his aspiration to be PM after the 1996 LS polls when the fodder scam derailed him. He lost the 2005 state polls and was routed in the 2009 LS polls and 2010 assembly polls as well. His conviction and disqualification from contesting polls, the defeat of his wife and daughter in the 2014 LS polls and the issue of who should succeed him pulled him down. He appeared to be at an existential crossroad until Nov 2015 when he emerged as the single largest player and took credit for the “coronation“ of “chhota bhai“ Nitish as CM.
