The Rediff Interview/Nitish Kumar

'Laloo is preparing his own coffin'

Samata Party Lok Sabha member Nitish Kumar and Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav were known to be thick as thieves till destiny intervened, when they fell out. Kumar left the Janata Dal along with George Fernandes and vowed he would not rest till Laloo Yadav met his Waterloo.

Last week, when the CBI sought Bihar Governor A R Kidwai's permission to prosecute Laloo Yadav in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam, few would have been happier than Nitish Kumar. In an exclusive interview to Rediff On The NeT's Tara Shankar Sahay, Nitish Kumar speaks his mind out on Laloo Yadav and the fodder scam. Excerpts:

You must be happy considering the recent developments in Bihar?

Normally, one does not laugh when others encounter trouble. Fate has the disconcerting habit of catching you unawares, but in Laloo Yadav's case many of us knew that nemesis would finally and decisively catch up with him. You cannot fool people all the time. Laloo thought he was God. Now he knows better.

You obviously harbour a lot of bitterness against him. Can you explain why?

Why do you want me to repeat those things? We parted ways because he thought he was too clever. Political differences between party colleagues can be tolerable but Laloo expected unquestioned loyalty from us while unleashing petty conspiracies against us to strengthen his own position. Besides, he expected us to be obsequious. We told him he could go this far and no further. When he paid no attention, we parted ways and formed the Samata Party. It is true that we want to rid Bihar of such an unscrupulous chief minister like Laloo Yadav.

But Laloo sees a conspiracy by people who are jealous of his status as a mass leader in the state.

(Laughs.) Mass leader indeed! Remember how he boasted in the last elections that he would put us (the Samata Party and the BJP) out of business? But look what happened! Together we won 50 per cent of the parliamentary seats in Bihar. The day is not far away when Laloo will lose whatever support he has.

What are your views about the fodder scam?

What the rest of the country is saying. Laloo should quit until he is proved innocent.

Laloo has been maintaining that he would not quit and that he would fight the conspiracy to unseat him.

I don't want to comment on the fodder scam because it is being probed by the CBI. But I can say this. It is not for nothing that damning evidence is mounting against him. How far can he hide behind technicalities when all the doors are being shut on his face?

What do you think of the governor's statement that he would need at least a month to go through the CBI's papers against Laloo Yadav?

The governor may have his reasons. What is more important is the fact that Laloo's own party colleagues, apart from the United Front leaders, want him to quit. Are they being unreasonable? No, they know that Laloo Yadav is in deep trouble. Only when he quits will the United Front and the Janata Dal be able to recover some of the lost prestige. However, if he does not, he will be forced to go. I think Laloo is preparing his own coffin.

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