“What’s the point of Kumbh? Kumbh is useless." That’s what Lalu Prasad Yadav—the man whose family dreams of a Bharat Ratna for him—thinks. A convict in the fodder scam, currently out on bail, he cannot contest elections himself but has sworn to defeat Modi.

His son, Tejashwi Yadav, meanwhile, believes the Election Commission is a cancer, a threat to democracy. He is convinced that once his government comes to power at the Centre, EVMs will be scrapped. This statement must have left Lalu disappointed. He must be wondering when that government will be formed, when EVMs will be removed, and when his dream of defeating Modi will be fulfilled.

But father and son are seasoned players of political narratives. If Lalu chose to attack faith via Kumbh, it was no accident. And if Tejashwi targeted a constitutional institution like the Election Commission, that too was no mistake.

Now, it is the likes of Manoj Jha—intellectuals with little political acumen—who are scrambling for damage control. No, no, understand the context! he pleads. Lalu was deeply moved by the tragic train accident in Delhi, and his remarks were not meant to target Kumbh.

But Jha conveniently forgets that opposing religious movements under the pretext of secularism has been the core of Lalu’s politics. It is what made him the axis of Bihar’s political landscape. Every year, around the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, his 1990 speech goes viral.

Back then, Hindu Hriday Samrat LK Advani was riding his Ram Rath into Bihar, and Lalu was restless. When the slogan “Hum kasam Ram ki khate hain, mandir wahin........

© News18