The Fall of Lalu

THE FIRST TIME I went to Bihar was in 2009, a full four years after the end of the long reign of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but even then the memory of the anarchy was yet to be shed. You would be hard put to hear a bad word about Nitish Kumar, not because he had achieved any miracles, just ordinary law and order. Perhaps not even very good at that as compared to some of the better-run Indian states, but even the minimum of stability was a long way off from what Biharis had been used to. There is no halo over Nitish Kumar now because public memory really is short, but the momentum of pulling the state out of chaos has been enough to still maintain him as chief minister despite all the subsequent criticisms he has invited upon himself through his political turnings or doomed to fail populist measures like the ban on alcohol.

Lalu’s personal or political influence, however, didn’t diminish even after Bihar voted him out. He was a key constituent at the Centre and the myth continued to endure that all that Bihar suffered because of him was true, but it was in some way acceptable because he had given power to castes that had been oppressed for millennia. That social justice comes at a cost. As the lay­ers equalised, there was bound to be ugly churn. But why? Mayawati came to power in Uttar Pradesh, and there have been no castes who have been more oppressed than the Dalits. Mayawati also had no compunction in making all sorts of necessary and unsavoury alliances, but she didn’t let the state slide into the darkness of the abyss. The Hobson’s Choice—social justice or law and order—was the false alternative that Lalu gave.

After the ascent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the fall was inevitable. There was no shelter from the Union government. Court cases take time in India, but they never go away. Plus, there was age catching up and a politician without power grows old faster. Also, Nitish Kumar had outmanoeuvred him by getting into an embrace with BJP, something that Lalu could not do because that would alienate Muslim votes and without it, RJD would be almost irrelevant.

He has now got a five-year sentence in a corruption case that has taken almost a quarter of a century. It shouldn’t take this long but that is the limit to how much even one of the most astute politicians can manage the system. There is discord within his dynasty even though a return to power for the party in Bihar seems tantalisingly close. And even if it does, there seems little hope of now enjoying a calm life of contemplation retired from politics for him. You might miss the trademark bombast on television but even if it were there, chances are the new generation of voters wouldn’t be very impressed.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

•