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The Rediff Interview/ Laloo Prasad Yadav

'Once the Rabri Devi government is restored, nobody will be able to dislodge it for a long, long time'

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav's apprehension became a reality when the Centre used the Narayanpur massacre to clamp President's rule in Bihar after dismissing the government headed by his wife Rabri Devi. Governor S S Bhandari, said to be the RJD chief's inveterate foe, immediately set about replacing Laloo loyalists in the bureaucracy with handpicked personnel, like current Chief Secretary Vijay Shankar Dubey and Director General of Police T P Sinha.

The RJD chief, for his part, protested with a bandh call, and vowed to restore his wife to power by defeating the 'communal forces' led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Tara Shankar Sahay caught up with him in Parliament. Excerpts, wherein Laloo Yadav spoke about his party's plans and the inevitability of Rabri Devi's second coming:

It is said that Sonia Gandhi has struck some deal with you for opposing Central rule in Bihar.

I have spoken to Gandhi and her senior party colleagues. Their priority is to fight communal forces. In Bihar they are operating with help from the Raj Bhavan. That is why President's rule has been clamped to oust the popular Rabri Devi government. Sonia Gandhi iss desh ki neta hain. Woh nahi chahati ki sampradayik takaten Bihar mein raj kare; iss se desh aur Bihar ki janata ko khatara hai (Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the country. She does not want communal forces to rule Bihar and its people; this will endanger the country).

Then how do you explain Gandhi's earlier statement that the Rabri Devi government has no moral right to continue?

Even during my meeting with her, Soniaji explained that the Dalits in Bihar and the downtrodden classes had to be protected. I fully agree with her. The Ranvir Sena is the private army of the upper caste landlords and most of them are in the BJP. Everybody knows this. That is why the Congress decided to oppose Central rule in Bihar, knowing that support would only embolden and encourage the communal forces to tighten their grip on the state. Both the BJP and the Samata Party had been threatening my party workers that Rabri Devi's government would be dismissed. The way they applied Article 356 in our state showed that the BJP-Samata conspiracy succeeded because a RSS man was occupying the Raj Bhavan.

When the ruling coalition at the Centre knew that it was in minority in the Rajya Sabha, why do you think it took the trouble of imposing President's rule? Especially as the Supreme Court has clearly laid down that it has to be ratified by both houses of Parliament?

Accha sawal hai (A good question). Arre bhai, the Samata Party had threatened the prime minister that if he did not impose central rule in Bihar it would withdraw support. So what could the BJP do? It went ahead with clamping President's rule. The Central government is just a patchwork. It will come crumbling down any moment -- we all know that.

The Left parties were against the Rabri Devi government. So why are they now supporting the move for its restoration in office and opposing President's rule?

It is the greatness of secular parties to fight communal forces by sinking lesser differences. Every party has differences, there is nothing wrong in that. But when it comes to fighting the communal forces that are out to destroy the secular fabric of our nation, then we all get together. I am glad that besides the Congress, the Left and other secular parties have opposed the central rule. Aur ab BJP aur Sangh Parivar ko jaan jana chahiye ki iss desh ke log sampradayik takaton ko muh tod jawab denge (And now the BJP and the Sangh Parivar should know that the people of this country will not tolerate communal forces).

But it was under the Congress government that the Babri mosque was destroyed.

Main iss ke bare mein kuch nahin kahna chahta, lekin iss vishay par maafi maangi ja chuki hai. (I don't want to comment on this, but on this matter an apology has been tendered). I am sure Soniaji is determined to defeat communal forces. That is something to be welcomed.

What about the allegation that you have made a secret deal with Sonia Gandhi?

Bilkul bakwaas hai, yeh sub bebuniyadi baatein hain (This is ridiculous, absolutely baseless). They (the BJP) could not digest the popularity of the RJD government in Bihar. So they started spreading canard. There was a disinformation campaign by vested interests.

What do you think about the Janata Dal members coming out in support of the RJD?

I told you, all secular forces are in favour of the RJD state government being restored. If (former prime minister Inder Kumar) Gujralji and others support our party on this issue, why should anybody have any objections?

But Ram Vilas Paswan resigned as the JD parliamentary party leader in protest.

Dekhiye, jinka koi,/EM> base nahin hai, jo ki politically pehle se adhmara hai, uska baat jikre karna hi bewakoofi hai (Look, those who don't have any base in Bihar, those who are already politically half-dead, there is no use discussing them).

Are you contemptuous of Paswan?

He is even beyond contempt. Don't waste my time discussing him.

But he calls himself a leader of the Dalits.

The Dalits, the downtrodden, the poor and the oppressed -- they all are solidly behind me because Laloo Yadav and his RJD are their only hope. That is the reason why our party has been in power in Bihar for the last 10 years. Once the Rabri Devi government is restored in office, I can tell you that nobody will be able to dislodge it for a long, long time because it has the people's support, the support of all democratic forces.

It is said that your government became corrupt once it achieved power. That it has developed links with the upper caste zamindars (landowners) to stick to power.

Yeh toh BJP ki zaban hai (This is the BJP's language.) It is false, baseless and a figment of imagination.

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