Patna, June 5: Laloo Prasad Yadav again took recourse to his Bihar Movement past and kicked off his party?s membership drive, saying he would work with the Congress, the anti-thesis of Jaiprakash Narayan, for cobbling up a formidable ?secular? alliance in the year-end polls.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal president, a product of the anti-Congress euphoria of the mid-seventies, made the announcement on the occasion of Sampoorna Kranti Diwas to mark the anniversary of propounding of tenets of Total Revolution by Narayan at a public function here in 1974.
The movement caught the nation?s fancy and forced Indira Gandhi to clamp Emergency a year later, on June 25, 1975.
Incidentally, the CPI, which sided with Mrs Gandhi?s decision, is the one that is opposing the pro-Congress Laloo Prasad now, while her other opponents are with the BJP or the Janata Dal (United), besides Ram Vilas Paswan, who is left with few friends.
?The UPA should fight the elections as one. The CPM has already extended support to us. Those from the Left who want to come with us are welcome but I will not make a separate appeal to anyone,? he said in an indirect reference to the CPI, which wants to sever its links with the RJD.
Moments later, the RJD chief targeted Paswan as well and said some people turn secular and remember the Gujarat riots to suit their convenience.
?Kisi ke ghar mein aag lag gaya aur ghar waale bhaag gaye (Someone?s house got burnt and its residents ran away). People were bought and sold for Rs 5 crore each. The naked horse-trading led to the dissolution of the Assembly,? he said, in a clear indication at the Lok Janshakti Party?s election symbol, the bungalow.
Recounting the meaning of ?Total Revolution? to his party workers near JP?s statue, Laloo Prasad forgot the other highpoints of the change desired by JP but reminded them that he was with the ?secular forces? while his (JP?s) other followers were with the ?communal brigade?. He meant the BJP and the Dal (U).
?I admit that I made mistakes during the last elections. But people also made a mistake (in voting the RJD out of power). We have both realised that in three months. I will be very careful this time, especially in the selection of the party?s candidates. The UPA will come to power with two-third majority,? Laloo Prasad said.
The RJD president warned his party?s leaders not to admit bad elements in the party during the membership drive. ?Such elements come to Patna only for getting tickets. This time tickets will not be distributed in Patna. It will be done only on the recommendation of the district units,? he added.
The NDA, incidentally, has decided to launch its campaign on June 25, the day Emergency was proclaimed, with a rally to be addressed here by its top leaders.
The BJP and the Dal (U) also want to encash JP?s legacy, especially his anti-Congressism and Laloo Prasad?s ?co-option? into the fold of his one-time political enemy.
?We stand where we were, against the Congress which has ruined the country,? said state BJP president Sushil Kumar Modi.
