Displaying confidence over the prospects of his secular front RJD chief Lalu Yadav while talking to Nayear Azad said the alliance was formed to stop communal forces from coming to power and would ensure the ‘ghar wapsi’ of BJP.
Q: Why you took so long to accept Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections?
A) I have said it earlier and I am saying it to you too that I have not accepted Nitish Kumar as my leader. Nitish Kumar is the chief minister of Bihar and he has the support of my party. We have come together to stop communal forces from coming to power. We discussed this issue several times that not only Bihar but the entire country needs a secular front and with this purpose we met several times in New Delhi and chose Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as our leader. We are gradually moving towards merging into one party. Since there are several technical aspects to it we decided to fight elections together. To stop BJP is our agenda. Nitish Kumar is a secular leader. In a meeting in New Delhi in the presence of Mulayam Singh Yadav we decided to extend our support to Nitish Kumar as chief ministerial candidate.
Q: What exactly did you mean when you said “I am ready to drink poison?” Does this mean there is any kind of bitterness between you and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar?
A) There is no question of differences with Nitish Kumar at all. We have been together several times earlier as well. It was Nitish Kumar who made me Leader of opposition when Karpoori Thakur had died in the year 1988. It has always been my top agenda to stop communal forces. I was the one who had stopped BJP leader L K Advani’s rath and had arrested him and I will continue to fight communal forces. Our only priority is BJP’s ‘ghar wapsi’ and for that we are ready to consume poison also and this is the only reason we came together on one platform
Q: People have been waiting to see you and Nitish Kumar to share a dais. On at least two big occasions he chose to stay away.
A) We are chalking out strategies. We will definitely share the dais and campaign together for the upcoming elections. You were here and you saw Nitish and me together on my birthday. We will begin campaigning soon. Both parties are meeting and talking regularly about our campaign. Our issues and agenda are clear. We both have to go to the people of Bihar and inform them about how Prime Minister Narendra Modi cheated them on the issue of black money and other issues.
Q: BJP has once again accused you for the deterioration of law and order in the state. They say Lalu Yadav is mascot for Jungle Raj.
A) (Taking a dig at BJP) … they will stop the jungle raj? ‘BJP karegi pehla kaam, jungle raaj pe poorna viram’ this is going to be their slogan against us, is it? BJP has ruined Bihar by saying there is jungle raj in Bihar, they keep saying ‘Bihar mein jungle raj hai yahan mat aao’ (don’t come to Bihar there is jungle raj here. Even those Biharis who were living outside wanted to invest in Bihar couldn’t come as there was only negative publicity by the BJP about law and order situation. BJP now has a government in Jharkhand and what is the condition there? People are being killed in broad daylight and investors are not coming to this mineral rich state.
BJP is a party of propaganda; they make false propaganda for their own benefit. Do you see any lawlessness in Bihar, you are also from Bihar, tell me where is jungle raj. They are the ones who are responsible for jungle raj and despite all these things today Bihar has developed. BJP hates me because I speak about backward and the poor. For the welfare of minority. Lalu Yadav is not scared of anyone. No one can pressure me into doing anything against my conviction. I have always faced challenges and I am still ready to face it for the sake of people of Bihar. I know my responsibility, I do politics of grass root and I am confident that this secular alliance will stop BJP in Bihar and then in Uttar Pradesh and they are trying very hard to woo people in West Bengal but that will never happen. Why couldn’t they win in Delhi if people were so convinced of Narendra Modi or if they liked him so much? They only know how to shout, people have already started turning away from them we have seen it in Delhi.
Q: You didn’t stop Raghuvansh Prasad Singh when he declared that Nitish Kumar is not fit to be declared as the chief minister.
A) What Raghuvansh Babu said was misunderstood. He spoke about what party supporters felt, we are political people. We were never against Nitish Kumar, see I cannot become chief minister till I get acquitted and nobody from my family is interested in becoming a chief minister and Nitish Kumar is already a chief minister of the state. Raghuvansh Prasad had advised that we should avoid projecting Nitish Kumar before elections are over, what else did he say? There is another misconception that I got pressured by congress party but the truth is Nitish Kumar went to meet Rahul Gandhi after discussing with me and I was aware what happened during the meeting with Rahul Gandhi. Later when we met in New Delhi we reached a consensus that we should declare Nitish Kumar as the candidate for the chief minister.
Q: You wanted Jitan Ram Manjhi to join your secular front but instead he went knocking BJP’s door in New Delhi. How do you see this?
A) I never disliked Jitan Ram Manjhi and wanted him to join our secular front but instead he chose to tie up with the BJP. He did a wrong thing; he was being used by the BJP. He accused me of helping Nitish Kumar, I had clarified in March after Jitan Ram Manjhi had resigned that my party’s support was to the JD (U) and not to any particular leader. What he did is his own decision; we had stopped him as we felt it was our duty.
Q: Why do you think your alliance with JD (U) and congress could pose a threat to the BJP? They have two strong Dalit leaders-Ram Vilas Paswan and now Jitan Ram Manjhi, do you think your MYD combination has scattered?
A) Muslim – Yadav and Dalit combination is as strong as it was. And it will not break no matter what happens.
Q: The Pappu Yadav factor?
A) Yes. Some people are even taking Pappu Yadav seriously. Now tell me is he a person to be taken that seriously, what support does he have. Yadavs are strong political caste and they know what’s right and what’s wrong for them. This alliance will break NDA. In the previous two elections in Bihar NDA gained because we (Nitish and Lalu) were not together but now when we are going to contest in an alliance our votes clubbed together will prove more fatal for the BJP, they are bound to lose this time.
Q: And Manjhi?
A) Manjhi is not an issue and he is not a factor anymore. Do you think Ram Vilas Paswan will let him survive in NDA?
Q: You had said once that if Nitish Kumar is declared a candidate you Yadav vote bank will split. Has it split, Sushil Kumar Modi claims that Dalit and Yadav are showing their sincerity to their party and they were ready to leave you in favour of Narendra Modi.
A) Not a single Yadav will go to BJP. They are spreading false propaganda. As I said they very strong community and have been with me since the time of JP movement and Sushil Kumar Modi knows this, he was my deputy during JP movement he has seen how Yadavs were in favor of us. Muslims and Yadavs will never go anywhere else. I have information that RSS is also taking a keen interest in Bihar elections, why because they know how tough this election is going to be for them they are shaking out fear.
Q: How do you see series of promises by Narendra Modi government? Do you think such announcements and promises could affect your poll prospects?
A) (Laughs) People are waiting to teach them a lesson for making false promises. They are very angry, where is the black money? People are still waiting eagerly for that 15 lakh to credit into their accounts. They say it was a ‘political Jumla’ what right did Narendra Modi had to lie to these poor people.
Similarly BJP tried to cheat farmers of this country. BJP has been moving around with battery of big industrialists and trying to help them by grabbing farmers land, how can we allow this. We will protest against their agenda.
Q: Is there any consensus on seat sharing yet? How many seats your party is willing to contest on.
A) ‘Jab Dil mil gaya hai to ye bhi ho jayega ‘we are still discussing about it. Party’s committee will decide all these things. There isn’t only RJD and JD (U), we have congress party then we have NCP also. Things will be sorted out soon and I am sure there won’t be any trouble on the issue of seat sharing issue amongst us, the only agenda is to stop BJP and we are all committed to do that.
