Lalu’s pet poet
Few can forget about Lalu Prasad’s “generosity” particularly for the ones who sang paeans for him during his heydays. A little known Dalit poet, Brahmdeo Anand Paswan, wrote Lalu Chalisa (poem eulogising then chief minister) in the early ’90s and then Machchar Chalisa (a satire on Lalu’s rivals depicted as mosquitoes in the poem).
Anand’s dalliance with poetry instantly earned Lalu’s attention then. He — impressed at Anand’s poetic talent — made him a Rajya Sabha MP in the early ’90s. After Brahmdeo’s Rajya Sabha term ended he went into wilderness. But he has found a new home in Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which has fielded him in Jamui. But Brahmdeo continues to be a Lalu loyalist.
Yes, he is
Asked about Lalu Prasad by The Telegraph on his campaign trail at Addha Mor on Nawada-Jamui highway, Brahmdeo said: “Lalu, jo bheetar hai wo bahar hai (Lalu is the same inside-out). Brahmdeo has a very negative opinion about chief minister Nitish Kumar though. “Nitish kahta kuchh hai, dil mein aur kuchh rakhta hai (Nitish speaks something and keeps something else in his heart)”. When pointed out that he was a BSP candidate speaking on Lalu and Nitish rather than his leader Mayawati, Brahmdeo poetically said: “Kavi ke zabaan par lagam nahin hota (A poet has no shackles on his mouth).”