‘People want us united’

Heartened by the defeat of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Laloo Yadav is making a pitch for the creation of united front of Opposition parties...

Heartened by the defeat of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Laloo Yadav is making a pitch for the creation of united front of Opposition parties around specific issues in preparation for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. ‘‘We now need to forge an understanding which goes beyond floor coordination in Parliament and prevents a split in the Opposition vote at the time of the Lok Sabha elections,’’ the RJD leader told The Indian Express.

People want a change now, he said, and ‘‘they will never forgive us’’ if the Opposition did not come upto scratch. ‘‘We have to forget our ego problems now.’’

He complimented Sonia Gandhi for the initiative she had taken on the eve of the Budget session to get the Opposition leaders together at her home over dinner. ‘‘Dooriyan thee, kum huin. It was good that Sharad Pawar and Mulayam also came. We talked about coordination in Parliment. But, now, we need to take the next steps. Yeh sab logon ko ikattha karna hai.’’ There is of course no question of parties merging, says Laloo, as happened during the Janata Dal time. ‘‘But we must ensure that vote ka bikhrav na ho.’’

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‘‘Those of us who believe in a secular, equity-based society, the upliftment of the Backward Classes and Dalits, a self-reliant India, and in taking along all the religious groups, must come together, but it must be around an ideology, and we have to create an andolan and a jan manas.’’

Laloo feels there is no time to lose. He expects the Lok Sabha elections to be held within a year. He said his party would welcome seat adjustments with the Congress in Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections. ‘‘Chunav agale March-April tak ho jayega. There is no time to lose. If the BJP had won in Himachal Pradesh, they would have held it even earlier.’’

However, he was ambivalent on the question of tying up with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti in Bihar. ‘‘I have not applied my mind to it yet.’’

Like the Left parties, Laloo too feels there cannot be an alternative to the BJP without roping in the Congress. The latest results show that the BJP is losing out in the belt that was the fortress of the old Lok Dal and Janata Dal, which includes Punjab, Haryana, UP and Bihar. The situation in the country has changed and no party can come to power on its own, Laloo said. His was a ‘‘small’’ party, but he would talk to all the ‘‘big’’ leaders in the Opposition. ‘‘I’ll talk to Soniaji, Surjeetji, Bardhanji, Mulayam Singhji, V.P. Singhji, Chandra Shekharji, Sharad Pawarji…’’

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Perhaps, he said, a meeting could held during the period of Parliamentary recess to think of the next steps. However, it was the Congress which, as the biggest party, would have to take the initiative to bring everyone together.

Even as Laloo is making a bid for Opposition unity at the national level, he is getting his act together in Bihar. Like Mulayam in UP, he too has been trying to woo the upper castes, particularly the Bhumihars, which will give strength to his MY(Muslim Yadav) and Dalit combination.

‘‘In the worst case scenario, I will get no less than 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and Jharkhand,’’ he said confidently. Two days ago, he addressed a big rally of Bhumihars in Patna.