'Why Biharis? ...'

Full transcript of the BBC Hindi Special Programme Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath with the former Bihar CM andRJD Chief, the husband of the current CM, Rabri Devi broadcast on December 7, 2003. The topic of the programme:Is the RJD government actually working for the upliftment of the poor or its aim is just to keep Laloo'sparty in power.

BBC:  You speak with such voracity about communalism, why don’t you use the same force and take initiativeto solve other problems like the bad state of roads, water and electricity which plague the state?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: Bihar and the seven sister states of Purvanchal remain neglected ever since Independence by thecentral government. There has been discrimination against these states in the field of infrastructure andother fields. In accordance with Gadgil Formula under which financial help is supposed to be provided tostates, Bihar’s per capita income and investments in Bihar have been the lowest.

Pramod Kumar Singh, Surat, Gujarat: Biharis have earned a name for themselves in all parts of the worldthen why are they not given respect in their own state? Why do they have to migrate to other states for betterlives?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: About three hundred years ago, the British government had deported our ancestors to Mauritius. Theyestablished a name for themselves on the basis of their hard work. Why Biharis? Why do Gujaratis, Sikhs and Marwaris leave their land and go to foreign shores? Our people have only gone to other states and help improvetheir economy.

BBC:  But people from other states who’ve left their states of origin are not complaining like Biharisare. You have checked the state of affairs in Assam.

Laloo Prasad Yadav: In Assam our people have been killed and subjected to violence. Because of the Railway andcentralgovernment’s policies engineers had to apply for the position of fourth grade employees. In Maharashtra too,Shiv Sainiks beat up Biharis for their aim to oust all non Maharashtrians. Every person has a right to travelto different states and earn his living.

BBC:  But if Bihar remains backward, then people have no choice but to move out of the state as there areno employment opportunities in the state.

Laloo Prasad Yadav: Bihar has a population of 7 crore. Have all these people left the state? We are inSurinam, inMauritius, Punjab, Delhi. Biharis are working hard and have every right to earn their living wherever theywant.

Sunil Bharti, Vaishali, Bihar: Do you want to stay in power just on the basis of caste? Are you concernedat all about progress? The very spine of development - which is education, electricity and roads - is pathetic inthe state, then how is progress possible?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: We are in power through a mandate for the last thirteen years. There is no compulsion on the peopleto keep us in power. There has been steady progress under my governance. I am going to spend three and a halfhundred crore on electricity. Very soon we will be spending 29 crore to set up cable from Mahatma GandhiSetu to North Bihar. Education, water and electricity are our priorities and by 2007 we will make electricityavailable in every village in Bihar.

Raj Kishore, Japan: The Mandal wave made you the Gandhi of Bihar especially for the Dalits and backwards,but in your 13 year rule in Bihar there is an allegation against you that you haven’t given enough lee-way toDalits to fly and soar high. Why? I am doing research in speech science and had faxed you earlier to requestfor a sample of your recorded voice/ speech for study? Can you oblige me?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: Thank you for honoring me by deciding to conduct research on my voice. As far as allegations areconsidered, it is all part of an evil design to malign Rabri- Laloo government.

BBC:  How has Bihar changed since your government took over and through the thirteen years that you’vebeen in power?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: 20 lakh families have been shifted to ‘pucca’ houses; we have constructed bridges in RevaGhat,in Bhagalpur, regularized appointments of teachers, constables and staff in medical and engineering colleges,and raised standards of living for the poor who hadn’t even seen bricked houses earlier.

Praveen Kumar, Meerut: You had started your career by opposing the Congress and now you support them. Youwere against families dominating politics and now your relatives have invaded the Bihar political scene. Isall this justified?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: I had revolted against the policies of the Congress, against emergency. But now the country underthe rule of BJP is going nowhere. Our borders are not secure, neither is the Parliament. Big companies arebeing sold for peanuts, women are unsafe in Delhi. Due to all this I chose to tie up with a more secularparty, the Congress party. I can’t throw my brother-in-law from my house just because he is working hard andis involved in politics.

BBC:  Is it that whoever doesn’t obey you is removed from their post as is the case with recent removalof the DGP, D.P.Ojha?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: He had crossed the limits of being a government servant, and he withheld information sought by theCBI from the state government on the controversial fodder scam. We will publish all relevant documents to showhow he was behaving, conniving with BJP and other similar parties.

BBC:  But Mr. Ojha says that the moment he submitted a report against RJD M.P. Shahabuddin, he was removedfrom service.

Laloo Prasad Yadav: Shahabuddin was arrested four months back. A case against him was not initiated by Ojha but by ourex- D.G. Whatever the court decides in case of Shahabuddin will happen.

Yogendra Nath Tiwari, Aizwal, Mizoram: There is no Central University or IIT in Bihar where as its sevensister states have central universities and IITs. What are you doing about this?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: Let me tell you that after Bihar’s partition, we have opened two Sainik schools in Nalanda andGopalganj. About IITs, we put pressure on Murli Manohar Joshi but he couldn’t sanction it. He asked usfor a no objection certificate which we provided but later he was charge sheeted in the Babri Masjid issue andthe matter was forgotten. There are at least 12-13 Bihari ministers at the Centre. What are they doing exceptcomplaining about us?

Meena Kumari, Darbhanga: Your decision to remove English from the class 10. curriculum in schools have leftgovernment school educated students at a disadvantage when we go to college and have to compete with conventeducated students, also we feel inadequately prepared when sitting for competitive examinations. Why thisdecision?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: I can understand your dilemma but some decisions are taken under pressure from socialist forces inthe Assembly and outside.

BBC:  Patna HC time and again has issued serious statements against your government. What does thissituation signify?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: It is not fit for Laloo to comment against something said by judges because rules may be differentfor me as compared to other people. I respect the court and its orders.

Kishori Sinha, Ranchi: You have spoken about electricity, what about roads in the city?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: The condition of National Highways in the state is bad, as the Surface Transport Minister, Khanduriji has not released the funds for the state. On being asked the Central Ministers says they will constructfive kms, or six kms, but never commit to constructing the entire stretch of broken roads.

BBC:  You were deeply involved in campaigning for the just concluded elections especially for Ajit Jogi.What is your take about the recent Jogi- Judeo events?

Laloo Prasad Yadav: There is no meaning left to showing people consuming alcohol or taking bribes. The time has come forthe secular parties to form an all India alliance, led by the Congress to fight the next Lok Sabha elections,just as the BJP managed a formidable alliance of communal forces, called the NDA. To defeat the NDA, it isimportant for all secular parties to join hands, have a proper seat adjustment to avoid a split in secularvotes, and then a joint campaign would have to be launched to expose the misdeeds of the BJP-led communalgovernment at the Centre