(From top) Nitish Kumar; Baba Ramdev and Lalu Prasad. Telegraph pictures

Patna, June 14: “Na khuda hi mila, na wisaal-e-sanam; Na idhar ke rahe na udhar ke rahe (Neither I could get the God nor my beloved; I am nowhere now).”

This remark by JD (U) Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar sums up the fate of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who, of late, has been lampooning Baba Ramdev and goading his peers to keep the heat on chief minister Nitish Kumar over the police firing at Forbesganj last week, which left four people dead.

The RJD boss has been criticising Baba Ramdev and simultaneously pushing his cadres to keep the flame of police firing alive, in an apparent move to woo back Muslim voters as well as win the Congress’s confidence.

But Lalu’s “desperate” move may boomerang with a section of his partymen and the Yadavs at large seething in rage at the former’s comments on the yoga televangelist who belongs to the same caste. “Baba (Ramdev) is a not L.K. Advani or an RSS hoodlum targeting the Muslims or their mosque. He is a pious soul, staking his life against corruption. We will not tolerate Lalu venting all nonsense against him,” remarked RJD legislator Nawalkishore Yadav, who had attacked Lalu for speaking against Ramdev earlier too.

Another senior RJD MP close to Lalu, on the condition of anonymity, told The Telegraph: “At least, Lalu ji should keep quiet on Baba Ramdev who is emerging as an icon, particularly among the Yadavs, in the heartland. He (Lalu) should be circumspect, taking lessons from UP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on the issue.”

JD (U) general secretary Shivanand Tiwary, who was once close to the RJD boss, said: “Lalu’s desperate moves are aimed at two goals — entering the Union cabinet by pleasing the Congress and getting the Muslim votes back in Bihar.”

As regards the first goal, said Tiwary, it was subject to the central Congress leaders’ calculations on how far his induction into the cabinet will be suitable politically. “And it is hard for him to win the Muslim votes back from Nitish Kumar by whipping up emotive issues like attacking Ramdev and even dragging the police firing issue too far,” Tiwari added.

In fact, a large section of Yadav leaders in both the JD (U) as well as the RJD holds the view that Nitish is “too smart to get outwitted” by Lalu on these issues. The leaders feel that Nitish might convert Lalu’s moves in an opportunity to nail the Opposition and further tighten his grip on the state politics.

According to them, Nitish, who has strongly attacked the police action on Baba Ramdev, might split away with the disgruntled Yadavs from Lalu’s fold and field them against the RJD’s Yadavs to cut into the votebank — a tool that the chief minister has successfully used in 2009 when he fielded Ranjan Yadav (once Lalu’s friend) against Lalu on the Pataliputra seat and won the polls. The Yadavs, the single largest caste in Bihar, constitute over 15 per cent of the state’s population. Lalu, on the strength of the M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) combination had a definite edge on his rivals during his heydays as the Muslims too constitute over 13 per cent of the state’s population.

But Nitish, by initiating several welfare schemes for the Muslims and outscoring Lalu in terms of political empowerment by giving more tickets to the minority in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and also appointing them on the key administrative positions, has managed to woo the Muslims and benefit from their votes in the 2009 and 2010 elections.The observers conjecture that Nitish, who had already ordered judicial inquiry into the Forbesganj firing which left four Muslims dead, might handover the case to the CBI to silence the Opposition and also some NGOs and social organisations demanding the same. “Nitish knows that he has nothing to lose if he hands over the case to the CBI. If he feels that the Opposition is all out to make an issue for the Muslims against him, he will hand it over to the CBI,” revealed a source close to the chief minister.