RJD leader Ram Chandra Purbey celebrates Holi with other leaders at the party office on Beer Chand Patel Path on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, March 7: The colours were all there. So were musical instruments and songs. A few clothes were also torn. But the riot was missing.

Senior RJD leaders and party workers today turned up at their headquarters on Beer Chand Patel Path to celebrate the festival of colours. They brought along not only different shades of gulal but also drums. Some of them sang folk numbers. A few even tried to imitate kapdaphaar (cloth-tearing) Holi that Lalu had popularised.

But the sheer madness and exuberance, which characterised the Holi party at the RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s home in yesteryears was missing at the celebrations today.

Old-timers like RJD secretary-general and Rajya Sabha member Ram Kripal Yadav reminisced: “Laluji was a great host during Holi. He used to organise a big party at 10 Circular Road (Lalu’s home). He would meet us as friends and sing and dance. The powerful politician would be a common man that day.”

Yadav added: “First, we would tear his clothes; then, he would tear the clothes of the other revellers. Had he been present at the party today, the clothes of all the visitors would have been torn. None of us would have been spared.”

So where was Lalu? Sources said he and Rabri Devi were in New Delhi, preparing for the wedding of their daughter Hema, scheduled on March 11.

A source said many RJD leaders and workers had been invited to the party office but only a few turned up. The number of people were also lesser than other years.

Former MLA Shiv Chandra Ram said: “When Laluji was in Patna, we used to gather outside his house every year to celebrate Holi. We used to wait eagerly to play Holi with him. Things have changed now. We are missing him a lot.”

Regulars also missed the sumptuous fare that Rabri and Lalu used to prepare for their Holi guests. Earlier, there used to be thandai, bhaang, maal puwa and other delicious sweets. Today, the organisers had arranged boxes containing puwa and litti for the guests but most gave them a miss.

Alok Mehta, a former MP, said: “Rabriji and Laluji used to prepare a delicious fare. We miss that now.”