Renaming 8212; Paswan8217;s ploy for an image

NEW DELHI, Aug 23: The Union railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan is a man in a hurry, at least in the case of new announcements. Closely foll...

NEW DELHI, Aug 23: The Union railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan is a man in a hurry, at least in the case of new announcements. Closely following his controversial announcement rechristening Dadar Rail Terminus as Chaityabhoomi8217; comes the news that he has chalked out plans to rename three more stations in his home state, Bihar.

Nicknamed Ghoshna Mantri by his opponents, Paswan has far exceeded the United Front Government8217;s pace of reforms, going on a spree of unveiling new rail projects and rechristenings.

Sources within the United Front hint at a hidden agenda in Paswan8217;s frequent announcements 8211; that of establishing himself as a national leader, and not just as a champion of the Dalits. After creating a furore in Maharashtra over his aborted decision to rename Dadar station as Chaityabhoomi terminus 8211; barely two km from the station lies a Chaitya where Dr B R Ambedkar was cremated on Worli sea face 8211; he has now set his sights on Bihar where his position has been threatened ever since Laloo Prasad Yadav broke away from the Janata Dal.

Of the proposed three stations in Bihar that await renaming, two stations, Bithauli Halt and Biddupur, fall in Vaishali. Paswan8217;s parliamentary constituency, Hajipur, interestingly, is the headquarters of this north Bihar district.

While Biddupur is being named after the late freedom-fighter and eminent socialist leader Akshaywat Rai, a close associate of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Bithauli Halt is being rechristened Deep Narayan Singh Station 8211; named after the veteran Congress leader who passed away in the late seventies. A freedom-fighter, Singh was also a member of successive Congress governments in Bihar. The third station sought to be renamed is Madhepura, represented in the Lok Sabha by Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav. The area formed the political battleground of the former Bihar Chief Minister, late B P Mandal, who later shot to fame as the architect of the Mandal Commission.

On August 25, which also happens to be Mandal8217;s birth anniversary, Paswan is likely to fly down to this north Bihar district to attend a function organised to rename its railway station as the B P Mandal Junction, Madhepura.8217;

8220;In deciding to rename Madhepura after late B P Mandal, I am only fulfilling a long-standing demand. I have issued necessary directives to the district magistrates of Hajipur and Madhepura to make necessary preparations for the rechristening functions,8221; Paswan told The Indian Express. Asked whether he had informed the State Government, he said, 8220;What8217;s the need for it. You know how the State Government works.8221;

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But Paswan8217;s opponents in the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which rules Bihar, are clearly not amused. Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who represents Vaishali in the Lok Sabha, claims he too has not been informed by Paswan about his Ministry8217;s decision to rename Bithauli Halt, even though, bowing to the wishes of the local population, he had last year taken the initiative to get the station renamed after Deep Narayan Singh.

8220;Moreover, how can he get the stations renamed without consulting the State Government ?8221; he added. The timing of these announcements has also raised many eyebrows. 8220;The demand to rename these stations has been pending with the Railway Ministry for a long time,8221; said a senior RJD leader from Bihar, 8220;Why is it only now, after the JD leaders forced Laloo to leave the party, that Paswan is bowing to these demands ?8221;

Senior RJD leaders see in Paswan8217;s moves a gameplan to consolidate his base in the state, particularly in his constituency. Ever since the RJD broke away from the JD, Laloo Prasad Yadav has been itching for a showdown with him. Although a reserved seat, Hajipur has a fairly large population of Yadavs, Rajputs and Bhumihars. While Akshaywat Rai and B P Mandal belonged to the Yadav community, Deep Narayn Singh was a Rajput.

Meanwhile, Paswan chugs on, if it was Vishakhapatnam yesterday to flag off the Swarnajayanti bi-weekly express, today it was over to Bihar to lay the foundation stone of the new Sasaram-Ara broad gauge line.It is a different matter that Paswan8217;s deadline for Maharashtra government to rename Dadar railway station as Chaityabhoomi terminus ended on August 15. And, though he had threatened to do 8220;whatever necessary8221; if Maharashtra government did not rename the station, almost a week after the expiry of the deadline, Dadar remains Dadar.