Reproduced from Prabhat Khabar, Patna Edition, July 12,2004
Vimal Kumar
Unlike previous birthday parties this year, the RJD supreme, Laloo Prasad Yadav celebrated his birthday with much fanfare along with his party workers, supporters, colleagues, and friends and in full media glare. It was not a private function where Laloo would have been at liberty to dress himself casually, yet, he was absolutely casual in his dress and attended the function shirtless and did not shy away from the Media glare.
If Salman Khan could come shirtless on the silver screen, Laloo too as a politician has every right to come shirtless on the screen of national politics. Salman Khan has been severely criticized for his shirtless style, so should also be the case with Laloo Prasad Yadav. However the shirtless picture of Laloo Prasad Yadav reflects his rustic life style whereas Salman Khan’s style is obscene and vulgar to view.
The rustic style of Laloo Prasad Yadav has been derived from his rural background and rural politics. But, the contradiction is that despite him being rustic in his style, he has very well managed to mix the elite and rural under one umbrella. Coming from a rural background he should have been offering Ladoos to Lord Hanuman on the eve of his birthday, instead he was cutting a cake, which shows him adopting the western culture. But, this is Laloo’s style where he mixes the rustic and elite with such ease and still is the leader of masses.
The fusion of elite and rustic or we can say "Laloo style" can be easily seen in his private meetings, functions or public occasions. Through this fusion of Laloo style one can understand the politics of
The political collage of
Political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (U) do demand for President’s rule in
Why is the Media against Laloo Prasad Yadav? Is it because it is prejudiced and has preconceived notions about Laloo which continuously work against him, or is it because of Laloo’s working style and his administrative failures in controlling crime, backwardness, injustice, and caste-related massacres?
Not only Laloo, but Mayawati and her supporters too have blamed the media for its being biased and against the politics of social justice. However, to some extent Laloo is right, because basically the media is governed by the views of the middle class and therefore their view of the dalits, backwards and the minorities is narrow and they also overlook the issues and problems of the downtrodden. However, exceptions are there and by blaming the media, Laloo cannot wash his hands from his responsibilities.
In the age of consumerism, the media basically understands the language of power, it does not matter if the power is economical, political or religious. In the last few years the Media has given more than enough importance to Laloo Prasad Yadav and that is because Laloo has attained power from his politics, which they cannot afford to overlook. To keep Laloo in the centre has become a necessity for the Media because of his market. Today, Laloo has become a saleable product for the media and therefore it presents him as a buffoon or a clown and that has got a good market. Laloo knows himself and his origins and loves the television images that portray him as the rustic - warts and all, may be - but surely uninhibited. It seems like he would do anything to preserve this image since it helps him to further and develop his political market. In fact, Media and Laloo exploit each other to such extent that they also have a sort of love-hate relationship with each other.
This duel between the media and Laloo has portrayed the negative image of
It is often said the there is no dearth of educated and vibrant people in
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