Moditva vs Lalootva: Same difference

Moditva has attracted serious attention from a country concerned about its future cohesiveness. Lalootva has attracted the attention of only a bemused nation, tickled by the Bihar chieftain8217;s comic appearance and mannerisms.

The man is no doubt a bit of a wit. But behind all the slapstick comedy is a deadly serious manipulator of vote-banks.

Recall just two of the feats that make him a paradigm of our times. First, he was booked in criminal cases and jailed more than once. He just brazened it out, made his unlettered wife the Chief Minister and carried on.

Even a Central Government move to end the farce came to nothing because a constitutionalist like K.R. Narayanan could not find legal justifications for such a move.

The second feat is that, while Narendra Modi8217;s formula depended on unleashing violence, Laloo depended on preventing violence. Plenty of violence is condoned in Bihar against castes outside the Yadav fold. But the moment there is any threat of violence against Muslims, Laloo is directly on the phone with police chiefs, ordering them to ensure peace.

Muslims see Laloo as their protector. They vote en masse for him. This, on top of the Yadav block that comes to nearly half the electorate, puts Laloo in an unassailable position.

Such an assured power base could be used to turn Bihar into a paradise 8212; if Laloo were an enlightened politician. But enlightened politicians are an extinct species in India. So the state richest in natural resources is a filthy and miserable realm today.

A visit to Patna is enough to push anyone into a state of deep depression. The New Capital Area, where the Laloo family and important satraps live, is an oasis of beauty and prosperity, spotlessly clean and aglow with manicured lawns and beautiful flowerbeds. The rest of the sprawling city is a vast and wretched slum.

Some of the most graciously wide roads in the country are in Patna. But on both sides, the roads disintegrate into swathes of mud, garbage and excreta. Over these piles of slime and muck, little hut-shops sell fast- food and liquor.

The most pitiful sight is the ubiquitous cycle rickshaw, that insidious trademark of North Indian debasement. In bitter cold and blistering heat, these rickshaw-wallahs crisscross the city with their human loads.

In this world of cynicism, neglect and social delinquency, people have lost even the will to complain. 8216;8216;The main industry,8217;8217; said a prominent senior citizen, 8216;8216;is kidnapping.8217;8217; Apparently, medical doctors are the day8217;s favoured targets. The kidnappers are directly linked to ruling political bosses, so the victims quietly pay up.

But presumably no Muslim doctor is ever abducted. And no Yadav. After all, Laloo is a ranking secularist. This is what makes Lalootva and Moditva essentially the same: Though their methods are different, both successfully fool the voter.

What a price to pay for the privilege of democracy.