Rabri skips RJD meeting, speculation takes centrestage

RANCHI, Sept 28: Has Rabri Devi learnt the whims of a politician or was it a case of pure misunderstanding? RJD workers and Ranchi were lef...

RANCHI, Sept 28: Has Rabri Devi learnt the whims of a politician or was it a case of pure misunderstanding? RJD workers and Ranchi were left wondering today as the Bihar Chief Minister stayed away from a much-vaunted party rally in the city.

Rabri had been scheduled to address the RJD workers’ meeting here this afternoon at the city’s huge Jaipal Singh Stadium.

However, local papers this morning carried advertisements by the RJD declaring that the venue had been shifted to the adjacent, though much smaller, Abdul Bari park. None, however, mentioned anything about Rabri’s visit.

But around 8 a.m., Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Amitabh Choudhary confirmed to The Indian Express that the visit was off. No one, however, seemed to know exactly why.

There was no dearth of speculation, though. A senior IAS officer considered close to Laloo Prasad Yadav claimed the former chief minister hadn’t let her come.

An RJD supporter, Avneesh, on the other hand, said Rabri had never given her consent to visit Ranchi. “Some party leaders advertised her programme either to attract crowds or to become rich through lakhs of rupees of chanda (donations),” he alleged.

The RJD’s preparations, in any case, had been grand. Posters and banners praising the incarcerated Laloo and Rabri and welcoming the Chief Minister had been put up all over the town. Arches dotted the 10-km route from the Ranchi airport to the Chief Minister’s residence on Kanke road.

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In Rabri’s absence, State RJD chief Udai Narain Choudhary, State Tribal Welfare Minister Govardhan Naik, State Irrigation Minister Surandra Ram and RJD MP Girdhary Yadav held the fort today.

And they must have pleased their bosses. Laloo was lauded as the “messiah” of minorities and as an “innocent” implicated in the fodder scam by communal forces at the 5,000-strong assembly.

Meanwhile, the rally adopted a resolution demanding the centre to initiate immediate steps for creation of a separate Jharkhand state.

The party also extended unflinching support to its jailed national president and former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and pledged to continue its strrugle at all levels for his early release.

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The RJD also promised to stand unitedly against the “communal and opportunist” forces responsible for the conspiracy involving Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam and his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The RJD leaders, extending full support to the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) demanded early elections in the region for the constitution of a democratically elected JAAC.

The rally was attended by several RJD ministers, legislators and senior leaders.

Others who attended the rally included Union Minister of State for Coal Kanti Singh, Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Raghuvansh Singh, party Rajya Sabha members Ajit Mehta, Ram Kripal Yadav and Bihar Ministers Girinath Singh and Raghunath Jha.

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The workers’ rally, organised by the Ranchi unit of the RJD, was inaugurated by Kanti Singh while the stage was managed by RJD state chief Uday Narayan Choudhary. Ranchi RJD chief Abhay Singh delivered the welcome speech.