The dutiful wife - The Indian Express (Chennai)

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Yet again, Laloo thumbs his nose at public opinion

So when it came to choosing a successor, the so-called messiah of the poor
could not find anyone from among the teeming millions of the State but his
better half. It is a measure of Laloo Prasad Yadav's confidence in the
legislators who have been propping him up all these years that he could not
find anyone from among them to succeed him. It is significant that Laloo
resigned only when he was certain that his game was up. His resignation
would have carried conviction if it had followed the CBI chargesheet in the
fodder seam. It is the first time a beleaguered Chief Minister has found
such a stratagem to outwit public opinion. But then, it conforms to what
he has been doing all these months only to save his chair. What a tragedy
that a leader who claimed to represent the poor found nothing amiss in
splitting his own party and even agreeing to bifurcate the state only to
save his position. For him, his wife too has become a tool like the party
he heads to subserve his selfish interest. Not that Rabri Devi is new to
the limelight. She was recently in the news when she filed her income tax
returns under duress, showing an astronomical income from such humble
occupations as selling milk. Obviously, she put her signature, nay thumb
impression, on the dotted line as suggested by her husband, the Chief
Minister. To take Pits orders - that is exactly what she has learnt all
her life.

Once again Rabri Devi has been asked to play a similar role. She has to
keep the seat of Chief Minister warm till Laloo is able to reoccupy it once
his present problems are over. Like the ever-dutiful wife, Rabri Devi
cannot but shoulder the responsibility entrusted to her by her husband.
Why should it matter to her that she is not an elected representative, has
no administrative experience and is ill-equipped to hold the office of
Chief Minister? Did not MGR's little-known wife Janaki succeed him as
Chief Minister? It is a different matter that she was thrown out of power
by the voters at the first available opportunity. Unlike Janaki, Rabri Devi
does not have to bother about elections. She is confident that her
husband, even if he is behind bars, will take care of such matters.

In any case, Laloo could not have worked out a better arrangement to fulfil
his prophecy that he will rule even from the jail. Anyone else in the post
could have been problematic because politicians, however faceless they may
be, tend to acquire a face of their own once they occupy such positions of
power. It is for this very reason that Kamal Nath chose his wife when he
wanted a dummy candidate in Chhindwara. In the case of Laloo, the risk was
greater, for it involved the chief ministership of the State. Small wonder
that he turned down suggestions of nominating either his brother-in-law or
Union Minister Kanti Singh as his successor. He knew that there was no
guarantee that they would allow him to rule from jail, if that indeed was
his fate. With prisoners like the fodder scamsters already enjoying the
facility of cellphones in their cells in Beur jail, it should not at all be
difficult for Laloo to control the destiny of Bihar, as he promised, from
jail. That is the advantage of having a dutiful wife. It also shows that
the whole political system is unable to tackle such a phenomenon as Laloo
Prasad Yadav.

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