He and his wife observe Chhath as devout Hindus. The dirty city of Patna––especially its ghats––used to be spruced up during their tenure. And when the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief, Raj Thackeray, called Chhath a natak he was the first to protest. Not only that he accepted the challenge to observe Chhath in Mumbai next time.

The he in question is none else, but Lalu Prasad Yadav, the railway minister of India, who leaves no stone unturned to propagate his political message loud and clear. Ironically, he is the leader of a secular party, but he is the one who uses the religious symbols to reach the rural rustic mass. He is master in quoting from ancient Hindu epics and Holy Books.

After the defeat in 2005 assembly election it was thought that Patna would not see Holi like the one played in the chief minister’s residence. But a couple of years later he is back in full flow––though minus kurta-pharawan Holi. The Patna high court ruling on the eve of the festival of colour did not dampen his festive spirit. After all he has been passing through various court cases for the last 12 years. Why miss this festive occasion to rub shoulders with the masses?

The irony of the country’s and Bihar’s politics is that, in practice, many Bharatiya Janata Party bigwigs
appear to be least religious. Its former president, Lal Krishan Advani, once admitted this fact. This notwithstanding the fact that the party espouses the cause of Hindutva and cultural nationalism.

Secular Lalu knows that the modern medium of electronic channels will help him a lot in spreading the religious-cum- political message even in the interiors of Bihar. Ironically, the BJP’s cultural nationalism theory essentially remains an urban phenomenon.