Show time in Bihar

If you think the megalomania that dominates political scene in Bihar, has lost its steam after Lalu Prasad Yadav lost his throne to Nitish Kumar, you couldn’t be more mistaken. In a recent bid to upstage his opponent and redeem his reputation as the unchallenged demagogue, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader organised a massive rally in Patna, which, for its high drama and glamour quotient turned out to be a better crowd puller than a couple of recent big budget movies.
The rally was touted to be the ‘biggest-ever’ Chetawani (warning) Rally in the history of Bihar. Lalu’s supporters pulled out all stops to demonstrate their talent in putting together a great show. They painted the town red with erecting stages, putting up banners, and publicising the dance programmes. The showstopper was the performance of these professional dancers from Mumbai flown especially to regale his supporters. Lalu had even announced a reward scheme for his workers to encourage them to get a multitude of people for the rally. Special trains were hired to carry supporters from all over the state.
The shindig was purportedly the brainchild of Sadhu Yadav, the Railway Minister’s brother- in- law and ManFriday. He justified this extravagance and wanton indulgence by highlighting the cause of the poor, who he said, are deprived of entertainment.
The Chetawani Rally was supposed to set the stage for unleashing a relentless drive to overthrow Nitish Kumar’s government. But the chief minister is not the kind to chicken out of the challenge. He hit back at Lalu by booking a case against them all for using loudspeakers and making a blatant mockery of the 10 pm curfew.
The battle is only going to become more intense. If Lalu can bank on his unique ability for playing to the gallery, Nitish Kumar has the law and the lawmakers on his side. The real show has just begun.