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".

Morale High:Lalu!!

In the season of election failure “reviews,” it was the turn of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad on Thursday to face his workers for the first time since his poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing party workers at an auditorium on his 62nd birthday celebrations, Mr. Prasad said that while they might have been disappointed with the results their morale was still high.

He said that his was a true “mass-based” party which would keep struggling “till the most downtrodden person in the society was able to celebrate his birthday.”

While lauding the workers for their efforts during the campaign, he admonished them by saying that “internal quarrels must be kept at home, not played outside.”

He urged his workers to close ranks with the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) and stop being at loggerheads with each other, thereby upholding the party unity.

“In this regard, we have decided to organise a massive joint meeting on the 19th of July,” said Mr. Prasad.

He claimed that the RJD had played a major role in clinching the election for the UPA government.

“We have secured 48 lakh votes while the Congress has managed only 20 lakh,” he said, rebuking the UPA government’s post — election indifference towards him.

He said the RJD was recruiting a large number of people and the number of meetings with the senior leaders of every region had been stepped up.

In what was a repeat of the LJP’s demands on Tuesday, Mr. Prasad decried the delay in pubishing the report of the Land Development Committee headed by D. Bandopadhyay.

He said the party vehemently opposed the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill as it did not propose to benefit women from the most backward sections of society.

Targeting the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, Mr. Prasad claimed Patna had become a “danger zone” and crimes, including rapes, robberies and abductions, were on the rise.

Lalu laments Congress!

Parliament on Tuesday was witness to the Lalu Prasad Yadav of yore, using wit, humour and some drama to capture the attention of the House and to leave Congress leaders squirming in their seats.

The occasion was the discussion on the Presidential Address. Positioning himself as a jilted lover, Lalu raised his face to the Treasury benches and said: “Matlab nikal gaya to pehchante nahin (your purpose served, you don’t even acknowledge me)”.

The touch of pathos to define the Congress indifference towards him devastatingly complete, Lalu paused for effect. While a stoic Prime Minister Manmohan Singh looked on, Sonia Gandhi, Lalu’s ally of 10 years, squirmed and smiled, covering half her face with her hand. The other occupants of the Treasury benches seemed as embarrassed.

However, there was no stopping the man they had unleashed on the other side much too often during the last five years. “I was a freelancer of the Congress for 10 years,” Lalu said, pouring his heart out. “The insulting treatment meted out to us by some Congress people is not good.”

Lalu's complimentary pass unethical.

BJP leader and former union minister Ram Naik today said that he wrote to RailwayMinister Mamata Banerjee to revoke the lifetime complimentary first class air-conditioned pass given to her predecessor Lalu Prasad.

"The former railway minister had ensured prior to his resignation that he got a lifetime complementary air-conditioned first class pass," Naik said. Terming the order as"unethical", Naik said that he had written to the present Railways Minister to revoke it.

An order dated May 19 from the Railway Board stated the former Railway Minister would get a First Class air-conditioned complimentary card pass for himself with three companions in the same class, the BJP leader said. One attendant for the group would also be assured a ticket in the second air-conditioned class as per the order, he said.

The decision also states that former Minister of State for Railways could also be issued a air-conditioned First Class pass, a ticket for a companion in the same class and an attendant in the air-conditioned second class.

The BJP leader, who also made available the order issued by Railway authorities, said the decision by the Ministry ofRailways was"improper and unethical".

Lalu celebrates B day..

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, who is out of power after nearly two decades, turned 62 Thursday surrounded by family and leaders of his party but no government officials were present and the cake in the shape of a railway engine, which had become customary in the past five years, was also missing.
The former railways minister told reporters here that his wife, former chief minister Rabri Devi, and daughters had gifted him a bouquet of flowers. His grandchildren had also called from Singapore to wish him a happy birthday.

A mellowed Lalu Prasad warmly met all supporters who visited the decked up 10 Circular Road house, the official residence of Rabri Devi, and even cut a cake topped with candles but there was no fanfare.

“There was celebration but not like past since Laluji is no more in power” said a member of the former chief minister’s household staff.

Lalu Prasad and his party suffered a humiliating defeat in last month’s Lok Sabha elections. He managed to win from Saran but was beaten in Patliputra. The RJD won only four of the state’s 40 seats. In 2004, it had won 22 seats.

Recalling that his birthday has been celebrated publicly since he was chief minister in the early 1990s, Lalu Prasad said he wasn’t sure on which day he was born but June 11 was mentioned as his birth date on a school certificate.

“I don’t remember my birth date and am not sure whether June 11 is the exact birth date but as people celebrate the day, I too join them as a gesture of love,” he said.

When his party was in power in Bihar, his birthday had acquired political overtones with his supporters celebrating it as Communal Harmony Day. He used to cut a cake depicting a mosque, temple and church. Later, after becoming union railways minister, he began cutting a cake shaped like a railway engine.

Probe Lalu's regime as Railways minister:Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has hinted at the possible involvement of RJD supporters in Khusrupur train torching incident on Monday and asked Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to examine the incident and also look into the “bloated” Railways’ profit during her predecessor Lalu Prasad ’s tenure.

In New Delhi, Banerjee, too, said the Khusrupur incident was “mischievous” and asked for a complete report. “I don’t know how it happened. It was misinformation. I find it mischievous. I have asked for a complete report,” she told reporters.

Nitish, meanwhile, spoke to Banerjee, and later said: “As I have also served as Railway minister, I am curious to know the secret behind Laluji’s success. I pointed out to Mamata why the Railways under Laluji often asked for assistance from the Finance Ministry if it had earned so much profit”. Calling the Railways profit “bloated”, Kumar demanded a thorough examination of facts and figures to bring out the truth. He said the Rs 90,000-cr profit was “indigestible”.

Lalu's badbad!

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his political archrival Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav proved that both can never hide their animosity, even on the day they unanimously elected the first woman speaker. While felicitating Meira Kumar, who was elected to the Lok Sabha Speaker's post on Wednesday, Lalu Prasad repeated his often-raised allegation that the NDA government had "neglected" Bihar during its tenure in the past. But an angry Sharad Yadav immediately stood to object to the reference. "Why are you playing politics?" Prasad's response was quick. "Rajniti nahin to kya harivachan karne aya hoon mein?. Although Prasad's snapping evoked laughter among the members from the ruling coalition, the new speaker preferred not to put them on record. Prasad has also warned the Speaker. He started his speech pointing out that all leaders have promised the new Speaker that they would cooperate in smooth running of the House. "But I have my doubts whether these promises will be kept," he said.

Tailpiece: With Meira Kumar, a 1973 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, taking over as the Lok Sabha Speaker, both Houses of Indian parliament are now run by former diplomats. Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari is a 1961 batch IFS officer.

Lalu Balu ke liye jagah nahi:Lalu?

NEW DELHI: Humility and quiet resignation marked the first day of the 15th Lok Sabha on Monday as the House met for the first time after a long and acrimonious electoral battle that saw many parties and leaders biting the dust and from which many new faces emerged.

Both victor and vanquished appeared humbled by the verdict. With its erstwhile ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, itself vanquished, no one from the ruling benches seemed to try to rub salt into the wounds of the Opposition parties, which this time round appeared to have accepted the people’s word unlike in 2004.

As members awaited the arrival of Speaker Pro Tem Manik Rao Gavit, across-the-floor bonhomie was evident. And this lasted through the day. With a sizable number of greenhorns around and seating arrangements yet to be worked out, Trinamool Congress members Tapas Pal and Shatabdi Roy could be seen looking rather lost among the National Democratic Alliance benches.

Minute’s silence

After observing a minute’s silence to mark the first sitting of the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gavit spelt out the order in which members would take the oath. Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee was the opening batsman with Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani coming one down. While Mr. Mukherjee greeted other party leaders sitting in the front, Mr. Advani merely took his oath and signed the register.

Ms. Gandhi was called in third by virtue of being United Progressive Alliance chairperson. After taking her oath in Hindi, she went around the officers’ table — greeting leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

India’s linguistic diversity was in full flow as many members chose to speak in their own languages while taking the oath. At least three members — Sushma Swaraj, Sumitra Mahajan and Harin Pathak (all BJP) and Inder Singh Namdhari (Independent) — opted for Sanskrit.

The Congress dominance in the House was clear as it elbowed its way into the central rows, occupied by the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD in the 14th Lok Sabha. So much so that the RJD’s Lalu Prasad’s first comment was: Lalu-Baalu ke liye jagah nahin (no space for Lalu Prasad and T.R. Baalu).

The BJP front benches saw a considerable amount of jostling for space as an entire crop of senior leaders have moved into the Lok Sabha from the Rajya Sabha. As a result, Ananth Kumar had to yield space to those such as Jaswant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, who will now lead the party’s charge in the Lower House.

In the Congress camp, the front row pecking order seemed fairly established, but at the back where general secretary Rahul Gandhi was seated, a virtual game of musical chairs was under way. Another power centre — at least for the members from Andhra Pradesh — was Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

While the BJP was downcast, its allies, particularly the Janata Dal (United), seemed upbeat. Its leader Sharad Yadav was seen having a word of encouragement or acknowledgement for every member who had to pass him by as they completed their rites of passage into the new House.