(Bihar Times): A close look at the dais of the November
28 Sankalp Rally amply confirms that the Lok Janshakti
Party has become a party of tired and dozing
politicians groping for future political destination.
From Arun Kumar of Jehanabad to Ranjan Yadav of Patna
to Sanjay Paswan of God knows where, all were taking
an afternoon siesta while Ram Vilas Paswan was hitting
out at friend-turn-foes Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar.
Even the clapping and sloganeering in between failed
to awake some of them. The TV cameramen were
repeatedly focusing on their day-dreaming.
The LJP’s seven years in existence saw many political
travellers come, rest for a brief period and then go
elsewhere. Many of the ministers in the Nitish Kumar
government, for example, Ramashray Prasad Singh and
Narendra Singh were in the LJP before being abducted
and taken to Jharkhand by the Janata Dal (United) in
May 2005. While these 20-odd legislators fought the
Februrary 2005 assembly election on the LJP tickets in
October-November re-election they contested on the
Janata Dal (U) tickets and many of them became
ministers in the Nitish ministry.
Exact opposite is the case with the then Bihar Pradesh
Congress Committee chief, Ram Jatan Sinha, who
contested the Patna Central assembly seat on the
Congress ticket in February than switched over to join
the LJP and contest in October against Ramashray
Prasad Singh from Makhdoompur in Jehanabad district.
He was humiliated in both the assembly elections and
is at present not in so much limelight within the
party as then.
There is Ranjan Prasad Yadav, a foul-mouthed former ‘de facto’ chief minister of Bihar, who is cooling his
heels in Paswan camp. He never won any election––even
of ward councillor––but always appeared even more
arrogant than Lalu and was often at his abusive best
when he was the working president of the RJD. Today he
is in the LJP as he is finding himself in the
cul-de-sac. It was just because of the Lalu phenomenon
that he could go to Rajya Sabha twice. The LJP failed
disastrously in ensuring his victory to the Upper
House of the Indian Parliament. Now he has missed all
the political buses.
Former MP Arun Kumar was in the Samata Party and then
Janata Dal (United) till he lost in 2004 parliamentary
election from Jehanabad. After that defeat he came
close to the RJD, the party whose candidate routed him
in Jehanabad. In 2005 by election he fought as an
Independent from Nalanda Lok Sabha seat and got the
backing of Lalu Yadav. Though Nalanda was vacated by
Nitish Kumar, who later became the chief minister,
Arun lost by a relatively slender margin. But just on
the eve of Sankalp Rally he along with Sanjay Paswan,
another homeless wanderer, joined the LJP.
Sanjay Paswan’s is a unique journey. From college
campus as teacher to banker than to the Union minister
in the Vajpayee government, the rise was quite smooth.
Then 2004 election brought disaster to him. Months
after losing it he joined the same RJD, the party
whose candidate trounced him. Then one fine morning he
jumped into the Nationalist Congress Party bandwagon
and now with the Paswan camp. In between for a few
days he even joined Shiv Sena.
Apart from him and his brother, Ram Chandra Paswan,
the two other MPs of his party are Suraj Bhan and
Ranjita Ranjan. While Suraj Bhan was extremely close
to Nitish Kumar, when he was the railway minister and
even got many contracts, he switched his side to join
Ram Vilas. He has a running battle with another
Bhumihar strongman of Begusarai-Sheikhpura belt,
Lallan Singh, now the state Janata Dal (U) chief. It
is because of this reason that he is in LJP.
Ranjita, wife of Pappu Yadav, is the fourth party MP.
But ever since his husband won on the RJD ticket in
October 2004––the earlier election the same year he
contested on the LJP ticket––she came closer to the
RJD. Only God knows where will she be in the future.
The only one who stood strongly behind this Ekla Chalo
Re (Go it alone) man is none else but his brothers and
close relatives as they can not survive on their own.
The disgruntled lots, of all hue and colour, come and
go.
*(The author is a Patna-based free-lance journalist).