NO MORE TAMASHA:Lalu.

Lalu’s RJD is now out to create a ‘good boy image’ for itself . No more tamasha and hungama in the state legislature.

You can say the principal opposition party is seriously engaged in the image makeover prompted as it may be by the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

The monsoon session of the state legislature is on but the vociferous protests usually associated with the RJD bench are absent. It is still early days but for the moment, RJD members are conducting themselves like disciplined school students participating in the legislative business without creating any hassle for the presiding officers of both the lower and upper House. All this present a very bemusing spectacle, given the past track record of the RJD which has always looked for opportunities to come hard on the government.

In the past, the RJD, backed by other opposition members, often adopted a belligerent stance in its bid to force any issue with the government in the House. Raising slogans and trooping in to the well of the House had become the in-thing for irate RJD members, who perhaps were given to the belief that all this would take them closer to people. The logjam even led to adjournment of the House for days. The Assembly even was witness to an unsavoury incident when opposition leader Rabri Devi threatened to take on the ruling NDA members with her slippers.

Leaving the past behind, the RJD has certainly gone for introspection. Chastened by the Lok Sabha election defeat, the principal opposition party has decided not to create unnecessary obstruction in the transaction of official business in the House.

" The opposition is thoroughly demoralised after the Lok Sabha mauling. I don’t think they have any face to put up resistance in the House, "water resources minister Vjayendra Prasad Yadav said.

Nitish ridicules Lalu.

Ramai Ram, who for years remained the dalit face of RJD until he joined Congress just before the Lok Sabha elections, has finally settled for the ruling JD(U). He formally joined JD(U) along with his supporters in the presence of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar here on Monday.

JD(U) obviously continues to be the beneficiary of these desertions as a number of leaders of late have shown their inclination to break free from the RJD-LJP camp. Several of their leaders are only waiting for their turn to jump to the ruling JD(U) bandwagon.

“Laluji never thought of rewarding me beyond ministership although I played my role in his elevation as the chief minister. He tried to gloss over my contributions. RJD will now be further weakened after my desertion,“ Mr Ram told mediapersons after swearing his allegiance to JD(U). Mr Ram also attacked LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan who he said was only an “airy-fairy leader”. In fact, Mr Ram never showed any inhibition to compete with Mr Paswan in a bid to extend his political outreach in the dalit space. The eight-time MLA, who has been winning successive elections from the Bochaha (SC) assembly seat since 1977, enjoyed uninterrupted run as a minister in RJD governments for 15 years. The development is a big boost for JD(U), which recently saw another prominent dalit leader, Shyam Razak, from RJD joining the ruling party. In fact, RJD has been struggling to keep its flock together after the mauling it received in the Lok Sabha elections. The desertion of the party leaders from the RJD camp has been haunting Mr Prasad who may have to live with more rebellions in times to come. The past few months have seen a number of RJD leaders deserting the party. Some of the prominent names include Mahabali Singh, Vijay Krishna, Anirudh Prasad aka Sadhu Yadav, Upendra Prasad Verma, Vijay Singh Yadav, Ganesh Prasad Singh Yadav, Basisth Narain Singh, Bhim Singh, Shyam Razak and Nihora Prasad Yadav. Even from LJP, Sanajay Singh, trusted protégé of Paswan, besides other leaders like Ghulam Rasool Baliavi and Maheshwar Hazari have broken free from the party and are now part of the JD(U). “Call it a poetic justice for Lalu who when he was at the helm of affairs in Bihar used his influence to break all other political parties. Now, the same nemesis is catching up with him although this time the leaders are joining the JD(U) on their own,“ commented a JD(U) leader. Even the chief minister acknowledged the fact that leaders belonging to the minority and the dalit communities, and backward class were now joining JD(U). “The trend had started before the Lok Sabha elections and it is still continuing” he said.

Answer this Lalu ji?

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while talking to reporters in Patna on Monday, ridiculed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav's accusations that he was taking the ongoing 'Thanksgiving March' at the taxpayers' cost saying facts did not mean much to Yadav who was in the habit of making things up as needed to suit his own agenda.

"Yadav is not particularly known for his penchant for truth. Before making baseless allegations against me, he should have known that my travel expenses are being borne by the Janata Dal (U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," the Chief Minister said.

Kumar said that it was evident that Yadav, due to his party's crushing defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls, had become frustratingly angry leading to one outrageous statement after another.

"He has only 4 seats but when he talks, it appears he is still very much in command in Bihar," Kumar said.

The Chief Minister also demanded a clarification from Yadav on his relationship with the Congress Party.

"Is he still with the UPA or he is against the Congress? What is it? Perhaps even he does not have an answer to that question," said Kumar.

Lalu helps Paswan for Rajya Sabha seat.

Ram Vilas Paswan may return to Parliament next year as a Rajya Sabha member if his alliance with Lalu Prasad lasts till then.

Sources in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) said Lalu Prasad had offered to make Paswan their two parties’ common candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, due in March-April.

Paswan had lost in the recent Lok Sabha polls, where his party drew a blank while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won just four seats from Bihar. Lalu Prasad’s tentative offer to Paswan is an attempt at consolidating the alliance before the Assembly polls, due in November 2010. “It’s the politics of give-and-take, although it’s a bit early for a final decision,” a senior RJD leader said.

Lalu Prasad is said to have aided the LJP earlier too, helping send Sabir Ali to the Rajya Sabha during the previous Upper House election although the LJP had just nine Assembly seats. One Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar is won roughly with the votes of 36 MLAs.

The Lalu Prasad-Paswan combine now has 61 MLAs and hopes to win a few more seats in the upcoming bypolls to 15 Assembly seats. The alliance expects to have two seats in the Rajya Sabha. But even if the combine can win just one Rajya Sabha seat, it will still go to Paswan.

LJP sources said Paswan may not vacate his MP’s residence in New Delhi and prefer to pay the market rent for a few more months.

“The Samajwadi Party has offered the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh (to be vacated by its state president Akhilesh Yadav) but Paswanji does not want to accept it since another defeat would put him in a difficult situation,” a party source said.

Paswan, Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had joined hands before the Lok Sabha polls after failing to strike their individual deals with the Congress, which returned with an unexpectedly large number of seats and left them out in the cold.

The RJD still has a strong presence in Bihar and wants to show it is not finished without Congress support.

Lalu:Where are you?

The rustic magician of Indian politics who in UPA 1 was next to Soniya ji in all meetings finds himself no where?

The democratic drubbing has jolted the worker in him and shrugging of the desertion Lalu is trying to woo his lost vote bank like Muslims by demanding reservation for muslim women in LS and Assemblies.

Recently his man Friday Rajak left him proving the old saying that in bad times ones shadow too leaves the man?

My question is how could a seasoned and fabled politician like Lalu could misread the mind and the mood of the electorate??

Razak Nihora desesrt lalu..

PATNA: Two of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's close confidantes Shyam Razak and Ram Nihora Yadav, who had quit the party recently, on Monday JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Welcoming them into the party fold, Kumar said his party has received a shot in the arm as "committed and efficient politicians like Razak and Yadav have come together to join us". Razak, who was the RJD national general secretary, had resigned from the assembly and the party on June 13, while Ram Nihora Yadav, who was the spokesman-cum-state general secretary had quit the party yesterday. Both of them took the primary membership of the party in the presence of Kumar at the party office here. Pledging to carry forward the fight for "uplift of backbenchers in the society" through JD(U), Rajak alleged that the RJD "derailed" from its commitments of ameliorating the lot of mahadalits, extremely backwards and minorities. Recalling that he was one of the founders of RJD and had extended support to Lalu "as his guardian in odd times", Razak said: "The party now adopts resolutions on national and international issues only to mislead people".