COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA
ARCHIVES

The Rediff Interview/C P Thakur

'Lalooji ka khel khatam ho raha hai'

The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party's C P Thakur from the Patna parliamentary constituency has come as good news for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government -- so important is even one vote for his precariously perched administration. On the other hand, Thakur's victory in Bihar's capital city, right under the nose of the state administration, bodes ill for the Rasthriya Janata Dal whose candidate Ram Kripal Yadav failed to retain it despite his best efforts.

In this brief interview with Tara Shankar Sahay, Thakur says his victory proves that his party is gaining at the expense of Laloo Prasad Yadav's RJD.

What is the political significance of your victory from Patna?

Lalooji ka khel khatam ho raha hai (Laloo's game is ending). Only two years ago he claimed that the BJP is a communal party, but you can see that the voters in Patna have elected me with a convincing margin of 52,000 votes. What does it prove? It proves that the people are fed up of Laloo Yadav's gimmicks and tall claims. So today we (the BJP) have 20 seats in Bihar and our ally, the Samata Party, has 10.

That is why I say Laloo's game is ending. Thank god, the Election Commission ensured that there was re-polling in the Patna constituency, otherwise this seat too would have gone to Laloo Yadav and his RJD.

Are you suggesting that the RJD has won seats in Bihar by unfair means?

I am not suggesting that, I am telling you categorically. We had earlier warned the EC how rigging was going on especially in the Patna constituency. The Central Industrial Security Force commandant deputed during polling here also complained that the state government of Rabri Devi had not deployed central forces to prevent rigging. This is because of Laloo. And he has the gumption to complain that his candidate lost the repoll because of unfair means. So to Laloo, the conduct of the polls under the watchful eyes of the EC is unfair while rigging, booth-capturing and ballot through bullet is wholly fair.

How do you explain the RJD winning the other seats in Bihar, surely he still has a lot of support in the state?

If the BJP has 20 seats and the Samata Party has won 10 seats, you can see that the RJD's vote base is waning. Why? Let me use the cliché, 'you can fool some people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time'. That is exactly what has happened with Laloo Yadav. So what if the people in question mainly belong to your community? They can discern the genuine from the fake. And the RJD president belongs to the latter category.

Do you think the Congress in Bihar will withdraw support to the Rabri Devi government?

That is for the Congress to decide.

How long do you think will the Vajpayee government survive?

Give us a break. Give us a chance. We have already proved the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha, so let us stop speculating right now. Don't forget that the people have had enough of elections.

But you too have to remember that the BJP's allies are putting up conditionalities for their support to the Vajpayee government, like the TDP, AIADMK and NC. So if your government goes, maybe the President will invite the Congress-UF coalition to try its luck.

I don't think so.

How do you explain the BJP's inability to get a decisive mandate despite Vajpayee's appeal to the electorate?

We are thankful to the people for their support and we will try to buttress our vote base. We are ready to learn from our mistakes.

The Rediff Interview