India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

Vol. 16 :: No. 05 :: Feb. 27 - Mar. 12, 1999

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COVER STORY

'A deep-rooted conspiracy'

Interview with Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Laloo Prasad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president and former Chief Minister of Bihar, seems set in his resolve to go on the offensive against the BJP-led Government which has dislodged his party's Ministry in the State. For this purpose, however, he needs the support of a broad range of parties which share some common political aims and objectives at the national level. In this interview with Kalyan Chaudhuri in Patna, Laloo Prasad evinces the hope that he would be able to gain such support soon enough. Excerpts:

What is your strategy at this point?

That the Vajpayee Government, since its installation, has been conspiring against the RJD Government is well-known. The Centre sent a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak, Sunder Singh Bhandari, as Governor as part of its plan to bring Bihar under President's Rule. I will go to Delhi soon to meet leaders of secular forces in order to expose the RSS rule that is on in Bihar under the guise of President's Rule and hold talks with them to explore the possibilities of dislodging the Vajpayee Government and installing a secular government. Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and former Prime Minister and Samajwadi Janata Party leader Chandra Shekhar have also initiated negotiations with secular Opposition parties, including the Congress(I).

Do you believe that the Congress(I) is a secular party? Will it come to your rescue by opposing the Vajpayee Government's motion seeking ratification of President's Rule in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP and its allies are in a minority?

ANU PUSHKARNA

I do not consider the Congress(I) a communal party. The Congress(I) is a secular organisation and I will solicit its support against communal forces. I have reasons to believe that on its part the Congress(I) also considers the RJD a secular force. Otherwise it would not have supported the RJD Government headed by Rabri Devi.

Is it true that the AICC president is avoiding you despite your repeated efforts to contact her? When Congress(I) leaders in general and Sonia Gandhi in particular condemned the massacre of Dalits and criticised the Rabri Devi Government for its failure to protect the lives of the weaker sections of the people, how do you expect that they will stand by you?

Why should I try to contact Sonia Gandhi through second-ranking and third-ranking party leaders, as reported in some sections of the press, when I myself can meet her personally during my visit to Delhi? Neither Sonia Gandhi nor any other Congress(I) leader wanted President's Rule to be imposed in Bihar. It was the BJP and the Samata Party that were clamouring for Central rule, for narrow political gains. They wanted Assembly elections in Bihar, due next year, to be held under President's Rule as they know that they will be wiped out if polls are held under a democratic government. All Left parties including the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI(M), the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation and other naxalite groups condemned the invocation of Article 356 in Bihar. Since the Congress(I) at no stage officially welcomed Central rule in Bihar, it is expected that its role in the Rajya Sabha will be consistent with its stand in regard to the promulgation of President's Rule. I am certain that the Congress(I) will not fall into the BJP's trap.

Do you not think that the law and order situation in Bihar took a turn for the worse particularly after the series of mass murders of Dalits by the private army of upper-caste landlords and that the imposition of President's Rule is justified?

The crimes committed by the landlords' army are heinous, but one should not forget that landlords in Bihar are, in general, patrons of the BJP. The Ranvir Sena is an extension of the Bajrang Dal. The BJP and its closest ally in Bihar, the Samata Party, are forces of evil. They killed our voters to get our Government dismissed. It is a deep-rooted diabolical conspiracy. If killings became a plea for the imposition of President's Rule in Bihar, then it should have been imposed in several States, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and some other northeastern States.

Do you not think that in the event of your being arrested again, for which purpose the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is preparing to file fresh charge-sheets in the fodder scam case, there will be a leadership vacuum in your party before the Assembly elections?

I do not think so. For the last four years the CBI has been after me, trying to establish my involvement in the fodder scam. Since I am innocent, I have nothing to fear. The RJD is a party of Dalits and people from the backward communities. They form the backbone of the party. Even in my temporary absence they will remain with the party and will vote it to power. Bihar has no place for fundamentalist forces.

Do you think you will be able to build a rapport with the Left parties and get a berth in the Third Front?

I am hopeful of the emergence of a Third Front comprising the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha and the Left parties. Loktantrik Morcha leader Mulayam Singh has been authorised to talk to the Left and other parties in order to build the proposed front. Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) Sitaram Yechury has recently admitted that the RJD has an important role to play against communalism at the national level.

Bihar remained more or less peaceful on the days following the imposition of President's Rule. Apparently there was no spontaneous people's reaction against it.

Immediately after the imposition of President's Rule, I appealed to the people to remain calm, as the battle against the political conspirators would be a protracted and organised one. The people listened to us.