Laloo turns religious; recites hanuman chalisa in jail

HE sits in front of a Buddha idol inside the Beur jail here and gives religious sermons on non-violence. Blink again - it's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav - the former Bihar chief minister, who is currently in prison over charges of financial irregularities, has turned religious.

Yadav reportedly reads religious books like the Hanuman chalisa and Durga saptsati regularly and sits for hours in front an idol of lord Buddha inside the jail.

Yadav wakes up at 6.30 morning and after taking a bath, spends a good deal of time worshipping and meditating. Following a breakfast of jaggery and gram, he begins reading religious scriptures. Post-lunch, Yadav meets people before taking a nap.

"One gets supreme pleasure from religious  thinking," Yadav reportedly told a visitor. Yadav apparently meets visitors in the jail superintendent's chamber, with hands raised to bless like a saint. Of course, only the VIPs are allowed to enter the jail premises to meet him.

The RJD supremo, however, does not want his children and wife, chief minister Rabri Devi, to visit him at Beur jail.

Of late, reports from the prison say Yadav has turned a lot towards the Buddha and his teachings. He has apparently resolved to have only vegetarian food during his jail stay. Yadav is also reported to be taking medicines regularly for blood pressure and heart diseases.

"Enough is enough, I will have to ensure that the poor get all the basic amenities," he reportedly tells visitors.

However, Yadav has still not stopped spewing venom at the central government for sending him to jail. He tells visitors that he has faith only in god and the judiciary. "As water cannot be held and air cannot be seen but we cannot live without them, so is the greatness of the judiciary which we can only see in reflection," he is said to have told visitors, claiming he is sure that the courts will do justice to him.

So far two former prime ministers, H D Deve Gowda and Chandrashekhar, have visited Yadav inside the jail premises as has Bihar Assembly speaker Sadanand Singh.

What does disturb Yadav's daily tryst with spirituality, however, is the functioning of the state government as well. On March 24 and 25, when he secured permission to attend the special session of state Assembly, his tryst with religion was certainly disturbed.

But Yadav did not seem to miss it much and was back in full form. Making promises and speeches galore, he made full use of his lung power to shout down rivals while making some political announcements.

That did not last, of course, as Yadav was soon back in jail, sitting in front of the Buddha idol, giving sermons to the other inmates on peace and non-violence.
 

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