It seems curtains for Lalu

Lalu Prasad Yadav is ultimately trapped in the Fodder scam. He is now a convict who would once again land up in a jail — something he had been doing off and on in his over four decade long political career. But he had proved a great survivor every time he went behind bars. Can Lalu stage another political comeback after being convicted in the fodder scam?

It seems sunset for Lalu Prasad Yadav this time around. Lalu is, indeed a fighter and has proved his opponents many times wrong. He is essentially a rebel who has been up in arms against the caste establishment all along his career after becoming Bihar chief minister in 1989. VP Singh’s move in 1990 to implement Mandal commission recommendations for the OBCs transformed Lalu into a backward castes’ messiah.

Lalu Prasad defied the caste-establishment. But he never compromised on the issue of social justice and secularism. He was the one who stood like a rock between communal forces and the Muslims of Bihar in the early 1990s when the Ram Mandir movement was at its peak. While the Uttar Pradesh burnt with communal riots, no Muslim lost his life in Bihar. These two commitments — unflinching loyalty to social justice and unwavering support to minorities — got him ultimately in.

Lalu Prasad Yadav is growing old. He is 70 plus now. He has an uphill task at hand of facing Income tax officials in a fresh case of corruption, he has to spend time behind bars and he has to protect his wife, daughter and son from the fate he has landed himself into. He would neither get the time nor would he have the energy to fight another survival battle. Besides, both social and political establishment would hardly give him the space to even breathe.

Lalu Yadav is a rebel but not a revolutionary. He is a dramatic gift of Indian democracy which propelled a Lalu like freak to ascend peaks in politics. But his weakness is that he also loves power. Family too is his weak spot like most of Indian politicians. His tactics has always been to fight the system from within the system. This kind of politics has a limited space in democratic set up. Democracy allows its players to tinker with the system. It, however does not permit someone to fundamentally alter the system.

Lalu Prasad tried to alter centuries old caste hierarchy. He managed to move a step forward. But the system pushed him two steps backwards. He refused to take lessons from his setbacks like Mulayam Singh Yadav who never accepted social justice as his motto despite doing backward caste politics. The system has trapped him into ED cases, fodder scam and fresh corruption charges. Lalu has neither time nor energy left to fight both his personal and political battles simultaneously.

It may be curtains for Lalu. Nevertheless, he has carved a niche for himself in history which will keep him at a high pedestal as the messiah of the poor and marginalised.

Adieu Laloo Prasad Yadav!