Waving an aloo, he had them eating out of his hands in Pakistan. For most it would have been a hard act to follow. But all Laloo Prasad Yadav had to do was take two parliamentarians from Pakistan, on a return visit to him today, on a guided tour of his garden, cattle and horse stables. A horse nuzzled there, a cow patted here, and the RJD chief was back drinking in the milk of affection pouring from him across the border.‘‘He has become a hit in Pakistan,’’ said Senator Tariq Azeem, spokesperson of ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q). ‘‘TV programmes on him are aired repeatedly.’’ Looking meaningfully at the scribes, Laloo muttered: ‘‘I have been telling this to all.’’ Azeem is accompanied by Pakistan People’s Party’s Zulfikar Ali Gundal. The two are part of a six-member team in India with a message of peace. Apart from the two, a big RJD crowd was gathered at Laloo’s residence on Patna’s 1, Anne Marg, to see him hold court. What he did, they copied.‘‘This cow has been mine since I was an MLA,’’ Laloo said pointing at one, and patting her. Soon quite a few hands were patting the cow. Chief Minister Rabri Devi was also present, standing by and smiling as Pakistanis greeted her as Bhabhiji.Azeem and Gundal presented Laloo a photograph of his with President Pervez Musharraf, at a dinner in Islamabad during the Indian parliamentary delegation’s visit in August. Laloo, a Rajya Sabha member, was one of the 30 delegates but had stolen the show with his antics.Musharraf’s autograph and note on the photo, ‘‘To an artist of a politician’’, thrilled Laloo’s heart. ‘‘People came out in hordes saying Laloo has come, Laloo has come,’’ he recalled, pausing for an endorsement from the Pakistani leaders, which promptly came.The official reason for the Pakistani delegation’s visit to India is a seminar organised by the British Council in New Delhi. However, Azeem and Gundal said they could not return without a trip to Patna. ‘‘How could we go back without meeting Lalooji?’’ said Azeem. ‘‘People in Pakistan want him and bhabhiji to come again.’’ Laloo agreed nothing could keep him away. ‘‘Hum baar baar jayenge (I’ll go again). People were asking why I did not take Madam. Next time both of us will go.’’Laloo also backed Azeem’s suggestion that cricketing ties between the two nations be resumed, adding he would host the first Indo-Pak match here in Patna.Azeem also called for party-to-party interaction between the two nations, apart from the contacts at government, business and people level. Laloo said he had invited Chaudhary Shujat Hussain, leader of the PML, to Patna as a start.Wondering where PM A.B. Vajpayee, Musharraf’s actual counterpart, figures in this grand scheme of things? Well, he wasn’t entirely forgotten. Azeem said Pakistani PM M.Z.K. Jamali and Musharraf were looking forward to meeting him at the forthcoming SAARC summit at Islamabad, though no bilateral meetings are planned. ‘‘We believe Vajpayee saheb’s visit will open a new chapter in relations between the two countries,’’ Azeem said. But can the master charmer make it as interesting as Laloo’s?
