Lalu Prasad at the Patna meeting on Thursday. (Deepak Kumar)

Patna, Nov. 5: When Rahul Gandhi stood up in Parliament to talk of Kalawati, a resident of Maharastra, he found his voice drowning in a din of opponents during the Manmohan Singh-sponsored trust vote in July 2008.

It was Lalu Prasad who rose to the scion’s rescue. “Rahulji is talking of a daughter of India’s hinterland. You people should listen,” the RJD boss had suggested, silencing the opponents.

A year down the line, the RJD boss, who has been rock-steady of his support of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, has turned acerbic while talking of the Congress, especially targeting its young brigade.

“Young Congress parliamentarians do not represent the common youth,” was the cry in the national executive resolution. “Lalu has ensured the entry of youths from state’s hinterland to the Parliament. He has been the true champion of the youth.” The resolution’s words were believed to be carefully crafted by Lalu, who, according to party insiders, has chalked out a plan to check Rahul Gandhi bid to popularise the Congress in Bihar.

Lalu has started targeting the Congress’s torchbearer before the scion visits Patna, for the patna book fair scheduled to begin early December.

Lalu’s volte-face perhaps stems from the realisation that Sonia Gandhi’s outfit will not accommodate the RJD in the state. And the RJD boss trying hard to revive the friendship with Congress since their break up during April’s Lok Sabha poll has perhaps finally given up trying.

Lalu had previously ignored Congress’s leadership using foul words for the RJD boss. The party’s in-charge of Bihar affairs, Jagdish Tytler, too, attacked Lalu Prasad.

That Lalu has decided to call it day with his efforts to assuage the Congress, became evident from remarks of a senior RJD MP and former Union minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh. “We are not under any compulsion whatsoever to tie up with the Congress,” he said.

Lalu simply supplemented his colleague by squarely blaming the Congress for the sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities.

“The Bihar government is blaming the Centre for the price rise. And the Centre is blaming Bihar,” Lalu said, asking, “Where is the difference between the two? Where is the government of aam admi?” “Lalu ko bulao, aalu sasta khao,” his supporters chanted with their boss. Incidentally, the price of potato has skyrocketed to Rs 25 per kg in Bihar markets.

The victory of RJD-JLP combination in Bihar in the bypolls has provided the RJD boss with the much-needed impetus before taking on the Congress and the NDA.

The RJD-LJP won nine seats against NDA’s five and Congress’s two in Bihar.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the RJD-LJP combination would launch an offensive on both Congress and NDA in the coming polls. And to his solace, the Left (CPI and CPM) which distanced itself with the RJD about a decade ago, has been gravitating towards Lalu. His party’s alliance with the Left in Jharkhand is believed to be a prelude of a bond between the Left and RJD in the run-up to Assembly elections due in Bihar.