Ajay Kumar
Laloo Yadav is a politician who has mastered the art of being in the media limelight. The man who has desperately failed on the governance front remains a cynosure for not only the masses of
The national and international media are all praise for him due to his easy accessibility and capacity for free and frank conversation. It makes the journalist’s task easier in drafting a story capturing all sorts of contradictions of the poorest state with a powerful politician deciding the destiny of 80 million people larger than
Sometimes Laloo who enjoys immense power becomes intolerant to criticism and goes to any extent to bring the popular media to toe his line. Being in power for last 15 years, he enjoyed immense authority to develop
Very often the media have exposed Laloo (mostly English newspapers) right from the days of fodder scam. But this man knows how to handle media and project his persona to the people as a powerful mass leader. He understands the limitation of English media and its reach to the voters of
Doctors moved to streets leaving their clinics and hospitals demanding a check on the activities of the criminals operating from jails. This protest was of the concern for every citizen of the country but the reaction of Laloo Yadav was very different. He openly scolded journalists in a public meeting at Biharsharif and threatened the media persons that he would make public the names of those who were in touch with Pappu Yadav, in full view of T.V cameras.
Star News recently showed how Laloo was distributing hundred rupees to each woman in rural area after the announcement of election dates ignoring all codes of conduct of election commission. This news was published in national daily The Indian Express but the local media ignored it which is significant. Taking cognizance of the T.V Report, a little later, the Election Commission ordered action against Laloo Yadav.
That the media is afraid of Laloo Yadav was demonstrated in the case of vernacular newspapers. Recently at least on two occasions, the newspaper
Only few days back the chief minister of
This is rally time in Patna; every nook and corner is painted with RJD slogans and all hoardings, be it advertisements related to AIDS, or family planning, or those of the police, are painted with slogans and names of RJD leaders. All kinds of public nuisance is committed in the name of rally. Almost all newspapers are full of news of RJD leaders visiting different areas. How crores of rupees are spent on rally and how this money is managed in the poorest state of the country is a moot question. Hundreds of government employees died waiting for their salaries in the last couple of years. The insensitiveness of the governing authority should be exposed on these occasions, rather making news of the extravaganza and vulgar display of money and muscle power. It makes even a common reader in the street feel doubtful that newspapers are really independent.