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With the kidnapping of yet another child from a school, an atmosphere of fear is spreading among parents and children in Bihar. Lalu Prasad Yadav and his chief minister wife are trying to play down the seriousness of the incidents by saying that in a day or two, they would reveal the whole truth about the disappearance of these girls and boy. On the eve of the assembly elections, these kidnappings have given another dimension to the general description of Laluraj as near-anarchic “jungle raj”.
There have been kidnapping of doctors, engineers and businessmen by organised crime syndicates, when Lalu Yadav's government has been less than stringent or positive in enforcing the laws of the land. That is how the kidnapping of an eminent surgeon for ransom led to his murder. Doctors of both government and private hospitals walked out in protest, causing a total breakdown of hospital services in Bihar. Lalu Yadav did not move in even then to put an end to the mafia raj once and for all.
Such laxity has emboldened the crooks and criminals who lead a luxurious life on the lam. Now with the assembly elections fast approaching, Lalu Yadav, who is fighting with his back to the wall, is losing face. School children braved heavy rains and led a procession to the Raj Bhavan the other day, seeking the governor's intervention in getting their friends released. It is but rare that the President expresses his concern on such occasions.
President Abdul Kalam has not only expressed his concern but has asked his secretary to be in hourly touch with the Bihar officials to get the latest on the abduction of the children. Lalu Yadav appeared on the political arena, speaking populist rhetoric which drew vast crowds of Yadavs, backward classes and the minority community. Posing as the saviour of these classes, Lalu Yadav has had a field day and routed the Congress effortlessly. The honeymoon period lasted full five years in which nothing was done to raise the standard of living of the Dalits or the Muslims, though some of the Yadav henchmen profited here and there.
The second term was equally arid. No chief minister can hide a backtrack on promises for long. Even the backward classes cannot be fed on the pap of false promises for years. And with Lalu Yadav's involvement in financial scams, he installed his wife as chief minister who cannot distinguish between a file for final signature and a file for the chief minister's decision. Thus fifteen wasted years of bizarre governance have alienated the suffering classes who have been continuously subject to the fury of caste armies of the land-owning classes.
The only thing that has flourished in this period has been Lalu Yadav's hype about himself and how he, who has given the poor a voice, would lead them to the promised land. Something which neither the backwards nor the Muslims accept on its face value. Lalu Yadav's doozy promises have no takers today among the minority community and large section of the backwards.
Is the Muslim community looking
towards the Congress? It is not easy to answer. That Lalu Yadav cannot
rest on his oars as in the past is certain. Though the Congress is not
openly going to challenge Lalu Yadav in Bhagalpur and other places, Sonia
Gandhi is hovering over those regions in an optimistic parade. With Ram
Vilas Paswan opposing Lalu Yadav openly, Lalu Yadav's problems are worsening.
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