Laloo’s Ladlas

 

The 1-Anne Marg- Bihar Chief Minister’s official residence – has been transformed into a proverbial castle complete with fields of grain, vegetable gardens, fishponds, poultry and over four dozen cattle livestock sheds. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi lord over this a la the king and queen of yore. And their nine children live like prince and princesses.


Nalin Verma
The author is The Statesman’s Patna-based Special Representative.


Before he became Chief Minister in 1990, Laloo Yadav wore a khadi bandi over his kurta during winter seasons. He wore the pair of glasses covered in thick black plastic frame. There is no change in his kurta and pyjama. But the old and outdated pair of glasses has given way to the pair in slick and sophisticated frame. He no longer wears that Karpoori Thakur style crumpled khadi bandi now for it has given way to colourful Monte Carlo’s pullovers over his khadi kurta.
Excessively oiled hairs stuck tightly on her skull and her half-veiled face were her trademark before Mrs Rabri Devi took over as the state’s chief executive in 1997. The face has come out from the veil in five years down the line and she presents herself smartly in shampooed hairs, descent saari and slick pair of chappals in her feet. Still she blushes, shows shyness and look at her husband when confronted with hard-boiled political question.
All the nine children of the modern day Raja and Rani of Bihar are fond of designer dresses. The state’s first couple is wealthy enough to ensure fashionable dresses to the prince and princesses. The shades of their cloths add to the elegance of roses, daisies and other flowers and plants that have come up in the campus.
What has not changed at all is Laloo Yadav’s inimitable style of addressing the masses. His transformation from a small time neta to the most powerful leader of Bihar has not affected a wee bit the ease with which he uses the rustic slangs to mesmerize the masses. And that’s perhaps the key to his charisma.
His kids, however, are different. Except the facial features which indicates that she is the offspring of Laloo Yadav and Rabri Devi, the couple’s first daughter, Misa Bharti has hardly anything in common with her father.

Married to a computer engineer, Sailesh, Misa is articulate. She can talk in refined Hindi and well accented English. Misa is a doctor. It is altogether a different thing that Laloo Yadav’s opponents raised hue and cry when she topped the MBBS examination of the Patna Medical College Hospital before her marriage in 1999. The hue and cry on her result was not without basis. Misa had never excelled in her classes in the schools and college. So, Laloo’s opponents smelt a foul play in her success.

Thriving in Controversy

Laloo Prasad Yadav thrives in controversy.
He has been in controversy for his alleged involvement in Rs 1000 crore-fodder scam, promoting his wife and “lawless” brothers in law in politics and whipping up caste hysteria during polls.
Of late, his children have tuned out to be a major source of controversy around him.
The Income-Tax department served notices on RJD chief and the Chief Minister Rabri Devi asking for the details of the expenses incurred during the mega wedding of their first daughter Misa Bharati in 1999.
The department also issued the notice to the samdhi of Laloo-- a bank employee, Ram Babu Pathik-- seeking the details of expenditure he incurred on the wedding of his son Shailesh Kumar (a computer engineer) with Misa.
Misa was named after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sponsored draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1974. She was born when Laloo Yadav was behind the bars in MISA. So, he described his first daughter as a “daughter of revolution” for Laloo Yadav was in the brigade of Jaiprakash Narayan sponsored “total revolution” to oust Indira Gandhi from power.
But Bihar was stunned to see the massive extravaganza, which marked wedding of the “daughter of revolution. Top leaders of the country including H. D. Devegowda, Chandra Shekhar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, I. K. Gujaral graced that wedding which invited Income Tax notices on the first couple and the relatives.
But then unruffled by what happened then, Mr Laloo Yadav made Rohini’s wedding a more extravagant affair in May this year. Film actors and most of the politicians who attended his first daughter’s wedding turned up at his second daughter’s mega marriage event studded with film stars and who’s who of Indian politics.
Rohini’s wedding turned out to be a nightmare for the car shop owners and other big businessmen. His supporters led by his brothers in law Sadhu Yadav and Subhas Yadav allegedly “lifted” 45 air conditioned cars from various Mithila Motors, Carlo Automobiles and other car shops for carrying the guests at the wedding of the messiah of poor’s daughter. The cars were not in the proper condition when they were returned to the shops.But he did not receive any notice from IT department this time around. It was because Mr Laloo Yadav married Rohini to the son of a top ranking Income Tax officer, remarked a BJP leader rather sarcastically.
He is yet to find himself in controversy with regard to his other sons and daughters. But then they are still too young to offer such occasion to their wily father.


But she has the mind of her own and does not necessarily thinks the way her indomitable father thinks. The speculation of her joining politics reached a Priyanka Gandhi like frenzy when the CBI made Mrs Rabri Devi an accused in a disproportionate assets case with her husband. But when asked if she will joined politics she says: “No, I have no plan to join politics.” Though not inclined to join politics right now, she has a fair understanding of politics. “We have understood politics watching our father in action”, she says, adding: “Our father never talks politics with us.” She wishes that the poverty should go and society should change for better.She was full of girlish charm and enthusiasm earlier. But she is more sober and responsible looking woman now. Perhaps, the motherhood that she attained a couple of years ago has added to her sobriety. Her husband runs software business in Delhi. She stays with her parents most of time perhaps to raise the child with the help of menial staff in abundance at 1-Anne Marg.
Besides her, the couple has six other daughters and two sons. Other daughters of Laloo Yadav and Rabri Devi are Rohini Acharya, Chanda Kumari, Ragini Kumari, Hema Kumari, Dhanno Kumari and Rajlaxami. The sons are Tej Pratap and Tarun.

Tall and handsome Rohini was married to son of a Mumbai based Income Tax officer and US based computer engineer, Samaresh in May this year. Like her elder sister’s marriage, Rohini’s marriage too became an event of discussion in the country for its extravaganza. The jaimala stage alone was reportedly worth over Rs Rs 50 lakh and the guests could choose from 100 items on the menu. The 1-Anne Marg received more than 10,000 people as baratis and other marriage related guests. Officially, the state has no money to pay salary to the staff but the messiah of poor’s daughter’s marriage was a gala affair.
Rohini too is a doctor who passed her MBBS from Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Jamshedpur.
Both Misa and Rohini were admitted to the Medical Colleges on the Chief Minister’s quota.
Ragini and Hema are studying in Engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology, Meshra now in Jharkhand. Both were admitted to the prestigious engineering institution on the special quota of the Chief Minister then in undivided Bihar. But both of them failed to clear their first year’s course.
The couple finds it hard to retain their two daughters not doing well at studies in the institution of the state now ruled by a hostile BJP led coalition.
Chanda Kumari is doing LLB at a famous Law College at Pune. She still has a couple of years left to complete graduation in law. The grapevine have it that Laloo Yadav decided to make Chanda who is relatively better at studies, a lawyer after the CBI charged him in several cases of fodder scam.
Tej Pratap is the couple’s eldest son. But he is hardly rated as a good student. He studies in a local school known as Ishan International. School sources say that he barely passes in all the papers at the annual exams.

Laloo Yadav’s diehard supporters describe Tej Pratap as a Chief Minister in the making. The RJD leader and right hand man of the RJD chief, Ramkripal Yadav once announced in a public meeting: “Laloo-Regime will never go. Tej Pratap will be Chief Minister after Rabri and Laloo.” The enthusiastic RJD workers presented Tejpratap as Lord Krishna in a political procession about a year ago. “Madam, he (Tejpratap) wants to become Chief Minister)”, Laloo Yadav himself told Tara Bhattacharya, grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi when she called on the state’s first couple’s home and asked the boy what he would prefer to become. Though Laloo Yadav said it in a lighter vein the speculation is rife that the wily RJD chief may promote his eldest son who is week at studies in politics. “Tej Pratap is good for politics because he is a poor student”, sarcastically remarked the Leader of Opposition in Bihar House, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi.
Tarun, however, is said to be very good at whatever he does. He studies at the Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram in New Delhi. Besides, he is a good cricket player and plays in his school team. People close to Laloo Yadav believe that the RJD chief became the President of the Bihar Cricket Control Board to have his say in cricket and promote his son in the most popular sports in the country.
Though a product of socialist movement and follower Dr Ram Manohar Lohia who hated cricket and described it as symbol of gulami (slavery), Laloo Yadav and his children are fond of cricket. The RJD chief joins his kids watching cricket match on the TV set at times.

The youngest one Rajlaxami is only 12 year old. She was named Rajlaxami because she was born in 1990 after Laloo Yadav became CM and brought rajgaddi (throne) to him. She reads at the St. Joseph Convent, a missionary school at Patna.Children are the first priority for Rabri Devi. She has stated time and again: “First I am a mother, then a Chief Minister.” Though the younger kids wear fashionable dress like jeans and tops, the family has a Bihari taste for food. The kids like eating litti, chokha and other items, which dominate the Bihar’s culinary dishes. They have inherited the taste for Bihari food from their father. When they stay home, they prefer the home made food. And Rabri Devi still spends much time managing the kitchen to cook food for her husband and nine kids. The couple’s kids are hardly known as regular visitors of restaurants and hotels.
Though a busy politician, Laloo Yadav always finds time to spend with the family and kids. He participates in diwali and dussehra pujas with his wife and kids at home. He accompanies his wife to the bank of the Ganga in Chhat festival every year.

pics: Deepak Kumar

Comment

 

Comments...


Thanks for viable sketching of life style and domestic culture of the first family of our state.You are right in writing that in the past some RJDist enthusiastically coined the name of TejPratap as the CM of future.It is nothing wrong even if the reputed family thinks so.Because in the most of the families occupations of offsprings are being inherited like this.Also in our culture it is said that sucessful offspring go above their parents.I think from this angle post of the couble(both as CM) has placed very tough task in deciding their career As per your sketch it will be very cumbersome task for any of the children of the first couple to gain popularity,status that will cover the same of parents.In clss7th or 8th I read a sanskrit slok(not well remembered now)which was stating that people know Vasudev and worship him ,very few people know Vsudev(father of Vasudev) with the comment of the class teacher that it is a matter of pride for a parents whose offspring become like this.So the routine oriented job or any higher status post will not serve the purpose.because 'Bahut padh likh kar koi zila ka malik banega desh ya state ka nahee'As in the family of Laloojee politics has been primary thing,and their childrens are enjoying such first school,so if his any of son or daughter comes in politics it will be not a surprising thing.However politics need statesman,as I wrote you before too,not only khadi bearer neta without any vision.In this repect if Laloofamily becomes able in generating good statesman it will be his one of the greatest achievements because if you go back to the history of our past statesmen you will find very few have been sucessfull in doing so.

So I think let us extend our well wishes to the first couple of our state for doing such tough task in right way as per their inspiration.
yours sincerely

Rajkishore Prasad