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The Rediff Interview/Raghuvansh Prasad Singh

'Nobody can stop Laloo Yadav'

Union Minister of State for Food Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has emerged as Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Yadav's spokesman in New Delhi.

As the controversy over accommodating the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the Front rages, Singh speaks his mind out in an exclusive interview to Tara Shankar Sahay. Excerpts:

What would you do if the UF leadership, which is preventing the RJD from joining the combine, drops you from the Gujral government?

As you can see, we are still in the ministry because the prime minister has not asked us to quit. Anyway, our future course of action will be as per the instructions of Lalooji who is our party president.

Laloo Yadav is creating confusion. First he asked you and your two RJD ministerial colleagues to resign but later asked you to stay put. Such confusion shows his nervousness in the hour of crisis, where he is facing flak from various UF constituents. Don't you agree?

No, Lalooji is not nervous. He is very firm. He makes other people nervous. Today, Lalooji has proved that he is the only leader with a mass base in the country. Wo janata ke neta hain, baki sub naam ke neta hain. (He is the only leader of the people, the others are mere names.) That is why he has won the vote of confidence in the Bihar assembly, despite all kinds of false charges against him.

So you think the allegations against Laloo Yadav have been concocted by the CBI which has already chargesheeted him?

What else? Only chargesheeting somebody does not prove his guilt. I say Lalooji is innocent, he is being victimised by jealous adversaries who hate his guts. They have launched a conspiracy to nail him. But nobody can stop Laloo Yadav, he is unstoppable.

The RJD has been kept out of the UF. So how can the RJD ministers in the Gujral government hope to continue?

No comments. But as I pointed out, all our actions will be governed by Lalooji's instructions.

All your references to Laloo Yadav are in superlative terms. Are you really that scared of him?

Go and publish in your newspaper that if there is one leader in the country who deserves the people's heartfelt thanks it is Lalooji. See what he has done for them in Bihar. People chant his name, they worship him. Yes, they worship him. I admire Lalooji and I say that with conviction. I say it with sincerity.

Laloo Yadav has threatened that there will be chaos in Bihar if he is arrested. A true leader would never resort to unconstitutional means.

The people of Bihar, the have-nots, the backwards and the downtrodden will revolt if their messiah is arrested on trumped-up charges. They cannot be blamed if they go berserk.

What do you think of the Congress helping you (the RJD government in Bihar) in winning the trial of strength in the state assembly?

All governments have the right to gather the requisite strength for such a purpose through constitutional means. Thanks to Lalooji, we won. And if various parties come forward to support us, we are happy. But make no mistake, the central attraction is Laloo Yadav.

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