Bade bhai, but not CM: Lalu Prasad won't risk jeopardising his current role in Bihar

First, they said he will never accept Nitish Kumar as the leader. Then they claimed he will fight and break up with his partners over ticket distribution. Finally, they hoped that he will campaign only for his sons and party candidates and won’t transfer votes to other parties in the alliance. Now that he has proved them all wrong, Lalu Prasad’s critics are praying he will flunk the next agni pariksha: that of running a coalition government with Nitish Kumar. [caption id=“attachment_2500492” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Lalu Prasad (left) with Nitish Kumar. PTI[/caption] It certainly isn’t easy being Lalu Yadav, the man suspected of being the villain of the piece always. Though much of this reputation is deserved, considering his history of bickering with allies and friends, the Lalu Yadav of 2015 is unlikely to oblige his critics this time by stabbing Nitish Kumar in the back. The Lalu Yadav on display after the Mahagathbandhan’s victory on Sunday gave enough indications that he has the political maturity and wisdom to know that betraying the verdict would be political harakiri. The evidence first. Soon after the results were declared and it became apparent that the RJD will win more seats than Nitish Kumar’s party and emerge as the single-largest party, Lalu Yadav did not display the hubris of a senior partner. When he met Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav put a tilak on Nitish Kumar’s forehead, a symbolic gesture anointing the CM’s raj tilak. “He is the present and continuing CM of Bihar,” he said, embracing Nitish Kumar so hard that the CM must have felt his rib cage squeezed. Lalu Yadav’s was an important gesture. Within minutes, he silenced those who were wondering in TV studios and outside whether the head of the single-largest party would allow Nitish Kumar’s re-election. What he said next was even more significant. When asked if he would insist on his sons getting important roles, even the job of deputy CM, he replied: “They are young. Let them learn first.” It would be really surprising if Lalu Yadav insists on important positions for sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap after calling them rookies. There comes a time in every person’s life when he is forced to stop, introspect and act. From his demeanour and politics, he appears to be at that stage in his life. Three consecutive defeats, inability to take his vote percentage beyond 20 in successive elections, heavy defeat of wife and daughter in 2014 and his own conviction, incarceration and disqualification from elections, must have made the RJD chief realise that he is no longer the leading man of Bihar’s theatre. He is like an ageing, rejected actor, suited only for supporting roles. Lalu Yadav can contest his next election only around 2024, a difficult prospect considering his age. His sons are too raw and are yet to prove their mettle. Patience is the only option available to the RJD boss. To stay relevant in politics, he has to walk in Nitish Kumar’s shadow, either as a kingmaker or an elder brother who lets the more eligible and capable “chhota bhai” run the show. Walking out is an option only a puerile, impatient politician would exercise in this scenario as a short-cut to self-destruction. No, Lalu is unlikely to be the Charan Singh, Devi Lal or Chandrashekhar of the Mahagathbandhan. Being the opportunistic, hard-boiled politician he is, Lalu Yadav seems to have realised that Bihar is just a milestone in his journey with Nitish Kumar. “The real fight wasn’t for Patliputra, but for Hastinapur (Delhi),” he said in his victory speech. He is right. After the Bihar verdict, Nitish Kumar has become a contender for becoming the pivot of a new anti-BJP alliance; the symbol of Bihar model of development with secularism contrasted against the Modi model with a cow. Lalu, it is suspected, has smelt blood after the BJP’s decapitation in Bihar. Though 2019 is far away and politics can change in a matter of months, he would now be dreaming of becoming the matchmaker of anti-Modi alliances with Nitish Kumar, like in Bihar, as his dulha. The Nitish-Lalu alliance will fail only if their grand plan of winning Delhi goes wrong, not over the spoils of the battle for Patna. Like for Lalu Yadav, patience is the only option for his critics.