Lalu Prasad

Patna, June 6: Lalu Prasad’s tirade against Baba Ramdev has set off speculation in political circles that the RJD leader is trying to build bridges with the Congress.

Lalu Prasad yesterday accused the yoga practitioner of “spreading anarchy” and blamed his “unrelenting attitude” for the mid-night eviction from Delhi’s Ramlila grounds.

Political sources said the former Bihar chief minister was looking for a way to keep the Congress in good humour in the aftermath of the electoral debacle last year. “There is a realisation within the RJD that it erred in not entering into an alliance with the Congress,” said a party source.

Also, RJD sources said, by hitting out at Ramdev, who appeared to have the backing of the RSS, Lalu Prasad wanted to reach out to the Muslims. One reason for the electoral rout last year was the waning of Muslim support for the RJD. Muslims and Yadavs had once formed Lalu Prasad’s core votebank.

Lalu Prasad’s rivals, however, scoffed at the efforts to woo the Congress.

“He (Lalu) should understand that the Congress will only make him a union minister if it feels it can gain politically,” said Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tiwari.

Lalu Prasad’s attack on Ramdev has, however, surprised Tiwari and other leaders who were part of the Jaiprakash Narayan-led students’ agitation of the seventies, which too was aimed at weeding out corruption. “Lalu has betrayed the spirit of the 1974 agitation. He chose to attack Ramdev on the anniversary of Total Revolution, the movement out of which many leaders, including Lalu Prasad himself, emerged,” said Tiwari. “Even Mulayam Singh Yadav, who commands more MPs than Lalu and has given a written letter of support to the UPA government, has criticised the police action,” he added.

Lalu Prasad has had a blow-hot-blow-cold relationship with Ramdev. When Ramdev came for the first time to hold a camp in Patna, the RJD chief had invited him to his residence and boasted that the yoga practitioner belonged to the same caste as he. Lalu Prasad had then praised Ramdev, declaring that he had managed to keep his blood pressure and diabetes under control by practising the yoga asanas taught by him.

But of late, distrust has crept in with Ramdev being more than generous to chief minister Nitish Kumar in his praise. Lalu Prasad’s anger against Ramdev increased with the yoga televangelist criticising politicians for corruption. “He is a Yadav and should sell milk,” Lalu Prasad has said of Ramdev. He has dubbed Ramdev a “front of the RSS” and said that the Baba should stage a dharna in front of Swiss banks — where black money of Indians is allegedly parked — instead of in Delhi.

“Baba Ramdev comes from the same social background as Lalu. Lalu cannot tolerate any other person emerging from the same background because he feels threatened. Today Baba Ramdev has more public credibility than Lalu,” said deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, insisting that Lalu could never support any movement against corruption because of his involvement in the fodder scam. “That is why Lalu tries to run down any person who is campaigning against corruption,” said Modi.

Even RJD leaders appeared to be on the backfoot. “Everybody is free to express his views. Ramdev is no longer a Baba. He began to play into the hands of the RSS and BJP. His campaign is politically motivated,” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav, pointing out that even LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan had criticised Ramdev.

However, privately, Lalu Prasad’s supporters appeared to agree that their boss is making a mistake in going public with his views against Ramdev. “At least he (Lalu) should have remained silent. Baba Ramdev remains one of the biggest icons among Yadavs — the core voters of the RJD,” said a senior leader.