The five fodder scam cases are not the only challenge that Lalu Prasad is facing. Central agencies are hounding him and his family. Questions are being raised about his future and the ability of his younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to step into his father's shoes. The RJD chief takes some of those questions head on in conversation with Amit Bhelari of The Telegraph . Excerpts:
TT: How much time will it take for Tejashwi to reach your level?
Lalu: I have seen all kind of phases in politics since 1990. I had experience of the sweet and the sour, and also student politics. I am strong from the inside even at this age. Tejashwi has become mature at a very young age in politics. He has a different approach and that's the reason the party has decided to contest the next Assembly elections under his leadership. Of course, I will be always there with him. The RJD is not alone, the Congress is there with us. Nitish is nowhere in the picture; he is finished. When tickets will be distributed between the BJP and the JDU you will come to know what Nitish's value in the NDA is. Our direct contest is with communal and fascist forces, Nitish is not in the picture. There is an Emergency-like situation in the country and Narendra Modi wants to establish dictatorship in India. All sections of the people are angry with Modi.
TT: Do you think senior RJD leaders will be as dedicated to Tejashwi as they are to you?
Lalu: I am taking Tejashwi's side not just because he is my son but because all senior party leaders have high regard for him. Tejashwi is very popular among the youth. Both brothers are very hardworking and there is no dispute between them over anything. Of course people love Tejashwi because he is my son. Wherever I go alone people ask why Tarun (Tejashwi) has not come. My big achievement is that no senior leader in my party has any jealously towards any of my family members.
TT: You have had a long political career. Any regrets?
Lalu: The kind of situation is there in country, one needs to be continuously involved. Fighting with system and policy is not a one-day game. I do not have any regrets in my political life and I have achieved whatever I wanted to. I am satisfied with my political career. But yes, I have been wrongly framed in false cases since 1990 itself.
TT: You did give voice to the downtrodden but one thing which you could not bring is economic development.
Lalu: When I become chief minister of Bihar in 1990, the economic situation across the country was going through a bad phase. All state governments were under tremendous economic pressure and even a state like Maharashtra was facing big economic crises and they were unable to run their state establishment. But that time also I tried my level best and despite having scarcity of resources and more liabilities I made economic progress in the state. There was hardly any money for the development of the state because two-third of the money used to be spent on establishments like payment of government employees, pension, high court, Assembly, Council and many more. Today, the expenditure is more in the state and there is more money also. The present government has taken a lot of loan from the World Bank and the government is under heavy debt. I never put the state under debt and my economic planning was excellent. I did a lot in the field of agriculture and irrigation. In fact our state was surplus in these two fields. Jagadanand Singh did excellent work in irrigation. I started exporting grains to neighbouring states. Our annual budget was around 25,000 crore, compared to today's annual budget over Rs 1 lakh crore.
