Laloo Prasad (Top) , Gaur: Mutual praise

Bhopal, Sept. 10: What?s in a name? A lot if it ends in Yadav.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur received ?brotherly advice? from Union railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in Delhi yesterday.

Minutes after a formal discussion on railway projects relating to Madhya Pradesh, the Yadav bond prompted Laloo Prasad to place his arms around BJP chief minister Gaur, saying: ?Yeh Gaur Gaur kya laga rakha hai. Yadav hain, Babulal Yadav likhiye (What is this Gaur business? You?re a Yadav, write it so).?

More informal advice followed. ?Rajniti mein lamba raj karna hai to Yadav lagaiye (If you want to rule a long while, restore Yadav to your name),? the Union minister said.

Laloo Prasad said he was delighted to meet a fellow Yadav making it ?big? in politics. ?What is more heartening is that like me, you, too, hail from humble background.?

Madhya Pradesh has over 55 per cent Other Backward Classes and is the third state, after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, to have a Yadav chief minister. The three states account for 149 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Back in Bhopal, Gaur remained non-committal about following Laloo Prasad?s advice but explained that the change in name from Baburam Yadav to Babulal Gaur dates back to when he was studying at a village school in Uttar Pradesh?s Pratapgarh district.

?I was extremely attentive in my class and one day my teacher said: ?You hear everything with such rapt attention that your name should be Gaur not Yadav?. The Gaur part somehow stuck on since then.?

Gaur said he was impressed by Laloo Prasad?s easy manner and candour. The railway minister is said to have instructed Railway Board chief R.K. Singh to accord top priority to Madhya Pradesh projects requiring clearance.

The Gaur government wants the railway to convert the Bhopal-based coach repair workshop into a rail coach factory. The state has also been demanding intercity trains to link major towns like Jabalpur, Indore and Sagar.