Sab kahte the ki laluwa phinish ho gaya, hum kabhi phinish hone wale hainIJ… hum sabko thik kar denge (Everyone was saying that lalu has been finished…Am I to be finished everIJ.. I’ll fix everyone first),” RJD boss lalu Prasad was roaring at Basaitha village in Madhubani constituency on Saturday. On his every word, the motley crowd of Muslims and Yadavs cheered with equal force.
The restless crowd even jumped the barricade despite lalu’s continuous reprimand but he kept entertaining them with his full frontal attack on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar in his own inimitable rustic style.
Braving the peak summer heat, the ground of local Basaitha Middle School was full of crowd waiting for their leader in the afternoon. Sharp at 3 pm the leader’s small helicopter dashed down to the ground billowing gusts of dust. lalu came with party candidate Abdul Bari Siddiqui and another Muslim face Dr Ejaz Ali. Basaitha is a Muslim-dominated village while the neighbouring Pakri village is Yadav-dominated and people from both the villages had come in full force.
The RJD chief was visibly happy to see the number of crowd and soon after reaching the dais he came into his own self while making instant connection with them. “This is not an election, but special election…dangal hai…aur sabko is dangal mein patak dena hai”, he said and people nodded in huge affirmation. Surprisingly there were very few people standing near the helicopter to see their leader’s udankhatola, everyone was towards their leader lalu Prasad.
While attacking Nitish Kumar’s regime, lalu said: “Nitish ke raj mein afsar tumko kehta tha bhagte ho ki nahi…laluwa ka raaj haiIJ... aur paisa lekar kaam karta tha…kehta tha ki upar paisa dena hai (During Nitish regime you all are shooed away by the officers saying is it lalu’s regimeIJ...and, they ask for money for your work saying they have to pay to seniors)”. And, a group of women hearing lalu’s speech under shadow of a neem tree nodded promptly.
“Thik kehte hain…afsar sab ka man bahut chad gaya hai Nitish raaj mein (he is absolutely right...power has gone to the officers head in Nitish regime)”, they said. And, lalu Prasad continued touching their emotion and feelings. He hardly completed a sentence but laced them with rustic anecdotes and the lexicon.
“During my regime students went to school with slate in their hands but today in Nitish’s time they go with plate in their hands…to eat lizards and poison...,” he said while reminding them about Gandaman mid-day school incident in which 23 students had died due to food poisoning.
Soon he changed track and declared “I’ve arrange marriage while Nitish had love marriage with the BJP and the crowd cheered amid loud giggle. love marriage kiya tha isiliye divorce ho gaya dono mein…bemel shadi karega to kya hoga (they get divorced as their love marriage was not mutual marriage).”
The RJD chief also referred his jail yatra without any hesitation and apparently convinced his voters that he was sent to jail “out of bigger conspiracy” against him by both Nitish Kumar and the BJP.
Attacking BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, lalu said, “Who is this Narendra ModiIJ What are his credentials and what his leaders are saying these daysIJ” he asked with his forceful pause on sentences. “Sab ko thik kar denge (I’ll fix everyone)”, he said raising his index finger close to his nose.
later, he taught the crowd how to press button on EVM properly and if didn’t work or sound properly what they have to do. And, he then garlanded party candidate Abdul Bari Siddiqui.
Bilat Yadav of Pakri village looked quite impressed with his leader’s speech and said, “We’ve been voting for him for long…only he is our leader…Nitish Kumar has very intentionally sidelined us but this time we’ll teach him a lesson.”
Asked about BJP candidate Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, who comes from their own community, Bilat Yadav shot back, “kisi kaam ka aadmi nahi hai (he is a man good for nothing). Perhaps realising this, he is seeking vote in the name of Narendra Modi.”
The party has pitted him against Abdul Bari Siddiqui of RJD and Ghulam Gaus of JD(U). A strong anti-incumbency wave is also reeling against Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav who earlier had won lok Sabha poll from this constituency in 1977, 1999 and 2009. Ghulam Gaus recently deserted RJD to join JD(U) and become the party candidate from the seat but he seemed to be out of race.
However, the AAP candidate Neeraj Pathak is also making wave in town areas like Dr Prabhat Ranjan Das in neighbouring Darbhanga constituency but of no electoral significance.
“In 2009 elections, it was photo finish as Abdul Bari Siddiqui had lost the poll as the Muslim vote was divided between him and Congress candidate Dr Shakeel Ahmad but this time our vote will not split and Siddiqui Sahib will win the poll comfortably,” said Mohd Salim, a butcher of Benipatti.
But will they not vote for Nitish Kumar’s candidate as he has done a lot for themIJ “No..no..this time the challenge is much bigger…we’ve to stop Narendra Modi from coming to power…only those should come to power who can take everyone along,” he said.
Significantly, in the upper caste Brahmin-dominated Madhubani constituency there was no Brahmin candidate put forth by any major political party.
“Brahmin’s votes here always get divided but this time I think most of them will vote for the BJP,” said Dayashankar Mishra of Saurath village. He said, “The votes of Madhubani have been polarised between NaMo and anti-NaMo…and, the battle has become really tough for both RJD and BJP”.
Most of the SUVs plying on the roads and lanes of Madhubani could be seen with a sticker with a telephone number appealing people to give a miss call on the number. “On 09250019829…miss call dein and get registered as our voter”, said the vehicle sticker displaying RJD candidate Abdul Bari Siddiqui’s bearded mug-shot picture flashing an expensive smile.
Meanwhile, lalu Prasad made his point and flew back in the air but not before making one complete chopper round of the area. “Hawa bana diye hain is bar laluji,” said crowd in one force. Madhubani goes to poll on April 30.