Ashok K.JhaThe Roar Of Ram Vilash Paswan ?
November 29th 2007 12:12
After remaining in oblivion for more than two years,Ram Vilas Paswan organized a massive rally in the sprawling Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Wednesday.The huge turnout in the "Sankalp Rally," has certainly brought him and his party in the forefront yet again. Reinvigorated Paswan has now openly declared that he will not have any tie-up with the RJD of Lalu Prasad Yadav and it is up to Congress to decide with whom it intends to align in the forthcoming elections.
It is not a secret that Paswan was hurt when he was threatened to be ejected from the cabinet unless he became a part of the United Progressive Alliance in Bihar as well and support Rabri Devi' so that she could claim to form the government.The threat delivered by Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) did not yield any result but it certainly highlighted Paswan's lust for power.
Paswan was earlier denied the Railway Ministry that resulted in an abrupt end of the bonhomie between him and Lalu.Humiliated and belittled,Paswan has been aloof all these months,cutting a very sorry figure.Paswan, like the late Jagjiwan Ram always managed to anticipate the political turnaround and secure an important portfolio for himself in the new dispensation.But the arrival of Lalu at the centre and the compulsion of Congress to keep Lalu in good humor resulted in the marginalization of Paswan.The way Lalu leveraged Railway's resources to keep his party afloat must have thickened the bad blood between them.Paswan was miffed because he felt cheated by Lalu as they had fought parliamentary election together and won majority of seats.Lalu was given more weightage at the centre because he had greater number of parliamentarians.Paswan did not fight assembly election together and both suffered as the votes split between them.Now the table seems to have been turned and Lalu again finds himself on sticky wicket.Ignoring overturers , Paswan has resolved to go alone in order to put RJD on the mat.
Before Nitish Kumar,the people of Bihar had reposed faith in Paswan for his audacious move of taking the RJD head-on.He launched his Lok Janshakti Party and gave tickets to dreaded criminals who had not been poached by other parties till then.Many of them were sworn adversaries of RJD.
The Muslim-Yadav alliance of Lalu Yadav seemed impregnable which was further strengthened by the support of other backward and dalit castes.There was Jungle Raj all around.Universities and Colleges were deserted as the teachers had lost interest in teaching.They had not been paid for years.Bureaucrats had virtually stopped performing their duty as they were constantly humiliated by political goons.Almost everybody was trying to get himself transferred to Jharkhand or some deputation outside the state.There was unprecedented migration from the state.
Amidst such gloomy scenario,Paswan challenged Lalu in his own coin and almost emerged victorious.But greed overpowered him and the fear of leaving the cabinet prevented him from forming an alliance with Nitish Kumar.Unlike Mayawati he had secured most of the Upper Caste votes without any effort to woo them.But his indecisiveness cost him dearly and the whole chunk shifted towards JDU-BJP combine.
After loosing out in Bihar,Paswan lost influence in Delhi too.Whereas Lalu hogged all the limelight he cut a sorry and lonely figure.Now, realizing the importance of setting his house in order, he has become active again and this 'Sankalp Rally' is the beginning of the journey.
It is not a secret that Paswan was hurt when he was threatened to be ejected from the cabinet unless he became a part of the United Progressive Alliance in Bihar as well and support Rabri Devi' so that she could claim to form the government.The threat delivered by Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) did not yield any result but it certainly highlighted Paswan's lust for power.
Paswan was earlier denied the Railway Ministry that resulted in an abrupt end of the bonhomie between him and Lalu.Humiliated and belittled,Paswan has been aloof all these months,cutting a very sorry figure.Paswan, like the late Jagjiwan Ram always managed to anticipate the political turnaround and secure an important portfolio for himself in the new dispensation.But the arrival of Lalu at the centre and the compulsion of Congress to keep Lalu in good humor resulted in the marginalization of Paswan.The way Lalu leveraged Railway's resources to keep his party afloat must have thickened the bad blood between them.Paswan was miffed because he felt cheated by Lalu as they had fought parliamentary election together and won majority of seats.Lalu was given more weightage at the centre because he had greater number of parliamentarians.Paswan did not fight assembly election together and both suffered as the votes split between them.Now the table seems to have been turned and Lalu again finds himself on sticky wicket.Ignoring overturers , Paswan has resolved to go alone in order to put RJD on the mat.
Before Nitish Kumar,the people of Bihar had reposed faith in Paswan for his audacious move of taking the RJD head-on.He launched his Lok Janshakti Party and gave tickets to dreaded criminals who had not been poached by other parties till then.Many of them were sworn adversaries of RJD.
The Muslim-Yadav alliance of Lalu Yadav seemed impregnable which was further strengthened by the support of other backward and dalit castes.There was Jungle Raj all around.Universities and Colleges were deserted as the teachers had lost interest in teaching.They had not been paid for years.Bureaucrats had virtually stopped performing their duty as they were constantly humiliated by political goons.Almost everybody was trying to get himself transferred to Jharkhand or some deputation outside the state.There was unprecedented migration from the state.
Amidst such gloomy scenario,Paswan challenged Lalu in his own coin and almost emerged victorious.But greed overpowered him and the fear of leaving the cabinet prevented him from forming an alliance with Nitish Kumar.Unlike Mayawati he had secured most of the Upper Caste votes without any effort to woo them.But his indecisiveness cost him dearly and the whole chunk shifted towards JDU-BJP combine.
After loosing out in Bihar,Paswan lost influence in Delhi too.Whereas Lalu hogged all the limelight he cut a sorry and lonely figure.Now, realizing the importance of setting his house in order, he has become active again and this 'Sankalp Rally' is the beginning of the journey.
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