National

Insolently Isolated

Laloo is finally cornered by the CBI. His rivals are poised for the kill. Can he save his gaddi?

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Insolently Isolated
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ON Sunday, April 27, as Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav attended a 'Naga maha yagna' in Sonepur near the state capital, he didn't have an inkling of the impending drama. After all, the 'learned' Naga Baba from Varanasi, by invoking several mantras, had spoken in glowing terms of his political career. No, there would be no chargesheets in the fodder scam. What's more, the Baba said Laloo distinctly had a chance of becoming prime minister as well. Amidst much beating of drums, the Baba claimed the almighty had communicated with him, confirming all that he had said.

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Laloo's aides recall the chief minister was in high spirits as he returned to his official 1, Anne Marg residence. As is his wont, he asked someone to switch on the television for the evening bulletin. But the lead story of the day was not quite what the Baba had predicted: CBI director Joginder Singh announced his intent to chargesheet Laloo and 55 others, including former chief minister Jagannath Mishra and a clutch of senior bureaucrats and politicians, in the Rs 750-crore fodder scam. Joginder claimed there was enough evidence to nail the chief minister and his 'accomplices'.

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The chief minister was in shock. After letting loose a string of abuses on the Baba, who has since decamped from the yagna site, Laloo wanted to get on the hotline to Prime Minister I.K. Gujral. When he did speak to Gujral, late in the evening, he was furious. Joginder, Laloo said, had filed an affidavit just three days ago in the Patna High Court, seeking more time to study the 2,000-page fodder documents. Why this volte-face? Gujral reportedly said he, too, had not been informed and would look into the matter. After that a series of calls were made to Chandrababu Naidu, Jyoti Basu, Chandra Shekhar and, importantly, Sharad Yadav, perhaps the chief minister's only friend in Delhi. They were all sympathetic, but said they could not do anything—not yet.

The chief minister's advisors, including ministerial colleagues Jayaprakash Narayan Yadav, Jagatanand, and other party MLAs, went into a huddle. The consensus was that the chief minister should not resign, as that would be tantamount to giving in to the "lie" the CBI was trying to perpetuate. The normally press-savvy chief minister was, for once, at a loss for words. He declined to take reporters' queries and became incommunicado.

THE very next day, however, Laloo seemed to recover, hitting out at detractors at a press conference. The whole exercise, he screamed, was a BJP conspiracy and that the CBI was merely acting as a conduit ( see interview ). He proclaimed his innocence again and again, saying that the BJP and rivals in the party were not interested in the scam per se, but in his ouster from the top job. So what transpired between Joginder's affidavit, praying for time, and his clampdown on Laloo three days later? Well-placed sources say that Joginder's Calcutta visit holds the key to that question. There, at the CBI's eastern headquarters, joint-director U.N. Biswas, the agency's legal cell luminaries and Joginder had a six-hour sit-in. Biswas, probing the case astutely, had compiled a video film on the scam. It lists a total of 48 cases in which Laloo Yadav is the main conspirator (see Charges against Laloo ). "The chief minister knew of all the withdrawals, yet he preferred to remain quiet," Biswas concluded.

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According to the CBI, one case referred to as 'RC-20' is the real clincher and implicates Congress veteran Jagannath Mishra as well. Apparently, Laloo, after ordering the transfer of district animal husbandry officer B.N. Sharma, cancelled it at the intervention of Congress legislator Rajo Singh. The transfer order had been passed after treasury officers of Chaibasa district had complained that Sharma had fraudulently withdrawn Rs 50 lakh.

On May 2, Biswas, while submitting his status report to the Patna High Court, said the 'thread' of conspiracy implicated the chief minister in all 48 cases. "There is a common conspiracy in all the cases. It is like the train where only the driver and the guard have been identified," Biswas said, rejecting additional solicitor general K.N. Bhatt's plea that the charges be clubbed together.

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Biswas's chargesheet, sources say, lists a series of facts and events that bring out the chief minister's culpability. They include:

  •  The key scam accused, former animal husbandry official S.B. Sinha, was the local guardian of two of Laloo's children studying in Ranchi. According to Biswas, CBI'S Ranchi SP S.P. Dhondiyal played an active part in hushing up the scam, until he clamped down on him.
  •  Indian Airlines tickets, purchased for frequent jaunts of the Laloo family, were traced to Sinha.
  •  CBI sleuths in Rajasthan reported that two other children of Laloo studying in Ajmer's Mayo College were being 'supported' by another fodder scam accused R.K. Rana, Janata Dal MLA, now in custody.
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  •  Rana admitted to the CBI that he had paid Rs 25 lakh to Laloo at a Patna guest house in 1992.
  •  In 1993, when the state was in a financial crunch, the finance department—Laloo was the head—issued an ordinance, forbidding withdrawals from the state treasury. Curiously, the animal husbandry department was kept out of its purview. Interrogations of finance department officials revealed that the ordinance order had come from the chief minister himself.
  •  S.B. Sinha got repeated extensions in service, thanks to both Laloo and Jagannath Mishra.

    The chief minister, aware that legalities are not his forte, decided to hit back as only he can. All over the state last week, JD activists picketed streets. "There is a sea of green wherever you look. Injustice will not be tolerated," pointed out JD leader Vijay Krishna. For the first time since he took over, Laloo summoned a meeting of JD district chiefs in Patna. At the usually deserted JD state headquarters, which shares a boundary with the BJP headquarters, Laloo and his aides conferred with the recently appointed chiefs. Urging his men not to be afraid of 'prison' or 'death', Laloo even invoked Ram Manohar Lohia and said: "If you have conquered these, then chargesheets can come and go." Later, Laloo drew inspiration from B.R. Ambedkar as well. "This is a move to denigrate the downtrodden. By trying to remove me, they are striking at the roots of Dalits."

  • The dissident JD camp wasn't too impressed and grabbed the opportunity to take on Laloo. His insolent, brash behaviour has only alienated him. At two meetings of JD MLAs at the chief minister's house, the attendance was thin: on the first day, 70 of the 193 legislators offered a show of loyalty; the next day, 100 members paid a visit. For the first time, even some of Laloo's ministers demanded his ouster in the "best interests of the party". Revenue minister Inder Singh Namdhari and jail minister Pashupati Nath Paras, Ram Vilas Paswan's younger brother, urged him to quit 'gracefully'.

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    The sabrerattling apart, Laloo's position itself is tenuous. Sources close to him say the chief minister is working on various options. While resigning before the chargesheet has been ruled out, Laloo may dissolve the assembly when it comes to the crunch. Speculation is rife that he might seek anticipatory bail.

    The JD chief is also trying to work out a 'deal' with party bosses in Delhi that he should be allowed to stay on as party chief, even if he has to quit the chief ministership. "If he has to go, he would like to stay in Delhi," says a key aide. He points out that after the hawala chargesheet, Advani quit the Lok Sabha but persisted as BJP chief. Says state BJP leader Saryu Rai: "No political leader worth his salt would go unless he gets a good deal. Laloo is no different."

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    IN such a scenario, alternative names are already being bandied around. Heading the list is Union coal minister Kanti Singh, Laloo's  first choice. Next on the list is the 'acceptable' Abdul Bari Siddiqui, a cabinet colleague. But Laloo might even opt for a surprise candidate—and favour assembly speaker Dev Narayan Yadav, a 70-year-old politician who is unlikely to make life difficult for Laloo. Also, of course, he is a Yadav. That would be an interesting choice, especially in the light of certain Laloo manoeuvres in the recent past—when he forced the UF to exclude food minister Devendra Prasad Yadav from the Union cabinet, and vetoed Mulayam Singh Yadav's candidature for prime ministership. And since his own position is insecure, a non-Yadav at the helm would only make things worse for him.

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    But is Laloo in a position to dictate terms? Says senior dissident MLA Ganesh Yadav: "There is no question of any imposition. A regular JD Legislature Party meeting will elect a leader." In which case, rural development minister Ramai Ram stands a chance. What came as a shot in the arm for Laloo-baiters was the successful, though violent, BJP-Samata Party-sponsored bandh on May 3.

    But the game is far from over as far as Laloo is concerned. This week, the CBI is expected to formally seek the governor's approval to file the chargesheet. The governor may take his time to okay Joginder's proposal. The state JD has a list of precedents where governors of various other states have pondered over their decision. Until then, the political cauldron in Bihar is likely to remain on the boil.

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