This refers to the report, “lalu sugar-coats Nitish pill” (June 9). It is strange that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who considers himself to be the inheritor of Ram Manohar lohia's political legacy, has agreed to Mr Nitish Kumar becoming the Janata parivar’s chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar Assembly poll. lohia was a staunch critic of the Congress. He had spoken bitterly against corrupt Congress rule in the 1950s and 1960s. His dislike for Jawaharlal Nehru was so intense that he promised never to meet him in person but only face him in Parliament. lohia fulfilled this promise during the 1962 lok Sabha election.
It is hurtful to see that lohia’s followers, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, are now wooing the Congress, even though the party is marginalised in that region. The Bihar election will be a litmus test for the minorities. It is to be seen whether they want to join the Indian mainstream or bring back the jungle raj of lalu Prasad.