Laloo: Poll master

Patna/Gaya, Jan. 3: Sounds strange but some political observers in Bihar feel RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and the BJP need each other for survival.

According to Rizwan Kauser, analyst and Political Science teacher at a Magadh University college, both the BJP and the RJD have prospered in Bihar by gradually eating into the Congress votebank.

By getting L.K. Advani arrested during the rath yatra over a decade ago, Laloo Prasad provided the BJP? which had never been a force to be reckoned with earlier ? the much-needed space to be counted in Bihar politics.

While the BJP brought many upper caste voters in Bihar, said to be traditional Congress supporters, into its fold, Laloo Prasad walked away with the minority votes. The RJD also won over a section of Dalit voters, another group, which had traditionally stood by the Congress in Bihar.

Kauser is not alone in his views. Political activist Shree Bhagwan Bhaskar too thinks on similar lines.

A section of observers feels supporting the RJD is a compulsion and not a matter of choice for Muslims in the state. On the other hand, the upper castes ? particularly Bhumihars and Brahmins ? have supported the BJP in the hope that the party will ?deliver? them from Laloo Prasad?s ?proxy misrule? and exorcise the Mandal ghost.

According to analysts, Muslims in the state will dump RJD only if the BJP threat disappears or the Congress becomes strong enough to take on the NDA on its own in Bihar, which seems a remote possibility at this moment.

Similarly, the upper castes are likely to support the BJP so long Laloo Prasad remains a formidable force and the Congress does not become strong enough to challenge him, which again, is not possible in the current scenario.

The Muslims and upper castes seem to be engaged in a ?pehle aap (you first)? game at present. While the Muslims want the upper castes to ditch the BJP, the upper castes too are not averse to going back to the Congress provided two conditions are fulfilled. They would like the Congress to turn its back on Laloo Prasad and also win back the Muslims to emerge as a force to reckon with.