On slippery ground,Lalu reminds Muslims of Advani rath yatra

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs controversial statement in Kishanganj that he would have run a roller over Varun Gandhi for his hate speech....

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs controversial statement in Kishanganj that he would have run a roller over Varun Gandhi for his hate speech only betrayed his nervousness in keeping his Muslim votebank intact. Though the statement itself invited EC ire and a notice,it does not seem to have reaped the desired result with Muslim voters in the state treating it as one of those non-serious statements by the RJD chief. On Saturday,Lalu appeared to have realised the futility of the statement. For,addressing a rally in Parsa in his constituency Saran,he adopted a different strategy by reminding Muslim voters that only he and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would save the community from communal forces.

Recalling how they had stopped L K Advanis rath yatra,he told electors: Advani ne jab rath yatra nikala tha to hum aur Mulayam milke usko roke the. Hum aur Mulayam aur Paswan ab phir saath aa gaye hai. Aanewale dino me bhi koi khatra hoga to humi log rokenge. Hum kisi bhi kimat par communal forces ko rokenge (I and Mulayam together stopped Advani. Now,I,Mulayam and Paswan have come together to ensure that communal forces do not take over).

The refrain through 13 meetings that he addressed in a single day remained the same. Reports from the ground about a possible three-way split between the RJD-LJP,the Congress and the JD(U) in the 16% votebank of the Muslim community is making Lalu jittery.

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The RJD chief can hardly afford a split in the Muslim votes as he faces an uphill electoral battle due to a UPA in disarray pitted against the groundswell of goodwill for NDAs face in the state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

That Lalus fears are real was echoed by Abdul Khaliq of Sheikh Dumri village in the constituency where Lalu is pitted against Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP. It was very bad on part of Lalu to leave just three seats for the Congress, he said adding that Muslims in the state would not vote as a block for the RJD-LJP. After all Muslims have had a long relationship with the Congress.

Khaliq is not alone in his opinion. In fact,it was hard to find a Muslim voter who could say with some confidence that the community will vote unitedly for the RJD this time. The Muslims (approx 16%) and Yadavs (11%) have long been the staple of Lalus political sustenance.

Varun Gandhis statement was wrong and so was Lalus. It is no issue here, said Azmal Haque of Garkha and his view was shared by a host of others across the constituency.

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The RJD,however,puts up a brave face. So far the danger of split exists. But we will be able to plug it as we are telling Muslims that the BJP will win if they make a mistake. We are sure that it will work, said an RJD leader.