Union rail minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has put himself in a position where even his own party leaders can’t defend him. By accusing the Election Commission of being casteist, on the basis of a letter written to the law minister by now capart chairman and then election observer L.V. Saptarishi, Laloo has obviously overplayed his hand. Even senior RJD leader and rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh feigned ignorance and stated that the rail minister did not "consult" him before making Saptarishi’s letter public. With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also coming out in defence of the Election Commission, noting that the "sanctity and autonomy of constitutional bodies must be respected", the message to Laloo is clear—that he’s backed himself against a wall.The rail minister had demanded nothing less than the resignation of election commissioners B.B. Tandon and N. Gopalaswami for allegedly making casteist remarks and showing bias while countermanding the Lok Sabha elections last year in Chhapra. Laloo Yadav had contested from here against the bjp’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy. Indeed, things had come to such a head that a petition was filed on May 11 in the Delhi HC seeking the quashing of Tandon’s appointment as CEC. Despite Laloo’s meeting with Sonia, the Congress has distanced itself from the controversy.
Union law minister H.R. Bharadwaj has even denied receiving any letter of complaint from Saptarishi. The situation now is that the Saptarishi allegations are nowhere on the radar and Laloo’s outburst against the EC has become the focus. In reply to a showcause notice slapped by the government, Saptarishi said he had raised the issues in the "national interest". So where does all this leave Laloo? He’s been maintaining that the government must believe an officer like Saptarishi who has an "excellent track record". The rail minister’s line, though, has very few takers.
By Sailesh Mishra
