What are the possibilities?
There are 545 seats in the Lok Sabha. (
Parliament of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) The chances of his party the Rashtriya Janata Dal getting half those seats on its own are nil. (
Rashtriya Janata Dal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
List of political parties in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPolitical Resources in the Net - India I (Parties and Organizations)Indian Political Parties,Party Profiles,Political Parties in India ...Political parties of IndiaIndia - Political PartiesList of political parties in India: Information from Answers.comIndia Election 2004 - Manifestos of Indian Political PartiesThe second best option would be the emergence of a Third Front. All the non-Congress, non-BJP parties would come together and go at it. That coalition would best be formed before an election. Maybe such a Third Front will gain a majority. If it does not, maybe that Third Front will still be larger than the Congress, and will get the Congress to support it by default.
A likely scenario would be where the Third Front is larger than the Congress, and a Third Front-Congress coalition takes over power. That is Laloo's best shot. He sure is qualified. He represents what is the Arkansas of India, Bihar. He represents the oppressed castes and Muslims. That is progressive. He has been an excellent Railway Minister. He has more than proven himself.
What comes to mind is a 1996 scenario when Jyoti Basu had the option to become Prime Minister but his party unwisely refused. Laloo will never refuge. Make him the offer he can not refuse.
Even today the seat distributions are as follows:
Congress 145
BJP 138
Rest 260
Should not 260 lead 145? But that asks for the creation of a Third Front, and within that Third Front, Laloo will have to build a coalition that makes it the largest group within that Third Front.
Indian ImponderablesIn The NewsAmitabh Bachchan, ‘The biggest film star in the world’ desiFans.com, India In 2002, he was voted as the most popular screen and stage icon of all time on a BBC online survey. ..... Singh, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal – who is of Indian origin – and Bollywood actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai each followed with four percent votes each.
Lalu shares wisdom with Harward, Wharton pupils Hindustan Times
After IIM, Lalu makes an impact on Havard, Wharton Moneycontrol.com
Lalu enthralls Harvard and Wharton students Telugu Portal Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, one of India's most popular politicians, Wednesday held a 'class' for 130 students from Harvard and Wharton, outlining in Hindi how he scripted the success story of the country's loss-making railways. ..... The students and their seven professors were clearly spellbound ...... Lalu Prasad hold forth on a subject that has generated tremendous international interest, igniting requests from one country after another to explain how anyone could make the Indian Railways a profitable venture. ....... since childhood I was greatly inspired by Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of Indian railways who rightly understood that this forms the most important part of the country's infrastructure ...... One of the students told a group of journalists later that he was impressed by the minister's witticisms and charisma. ..... The railway ministry gave the students a royal reception, greeting each of them with a garland of marigold flowers and applying the customary Hindu 'tilak' on their forehead. They enjoyed every bit of it, with some among them who had been passed over demanding that the 'tilak' be applied on them. ...... Lalu Prasad greeted them all with warm handshakes as he strolled into the National Rail Museum, located at the edge of the tree-lined diplomatic enclave. Before the "class" began ....... the students, elated to hear about the "magical transformation" story of Indian Railways as an American student put it, conveyed to journalists what Lalu Prasad said - and how they felt. ........ We have come here to understand how he turned around the Indian Railways," said Kunark Singh, an Indian origin student from Harvard who is a native of Bihar. ....... "Indian students like me are happy to come here to attend this class with Lalu Yadav and understand how we can give back to the society," he added....... The students, some of the brightest in the world, bombarded the minister with questions wondering if the railways' dramatic turnaround can be sustained - besides touching upon a rail network that transports 14 million people daily, linking the length and breadth of India. ....... A Pakistani student asked Lalu Prasad if he wanted to be the prime minister of India. The minister, who was calling the students "bachcha log" (kids), replied: "Everyone wants to move up, I also do. But there's no hurry. Right now I am busy concentrating on my work." ....... An American student was curious how despite having been a villager his entire childhood, he can cast a spell on intellectuals. ...... Yastten, a Japanese student from Wharton, said: "I have heard about Indian Railways and its venerable minister. I am very happy to see him in person and listening to him was a great pleasure." ....... "When the responsibility of railways was given to me, it was in a state of bankruptcy," Lalu Prasad said, discussing the findings of the Rakesh Mohan Committee that had forecast that Indian Railways would go bankrupt soon......... "The railways which a few years back was not in a position to pay dividends to the government now boast of a cash surplus of more than Rs.130 billion ($2.8 billion) in a short span of 30 months. This would take a quantum leap to Rs.200 billion by the end of current fiscal," he said in his baritone, interspersed with his usual witticisms that made many of his interlocutors laugh politely even though many did not understand him. ........ Lalu Prasad informed the students: "Over the last 30 months, freight volumes have grown by 8-10 percent and similarly growth in passenger volumes has also been doubled. ....... "On the supply side, increase in axle load coupled with reduction in turnaround time of wagons from seven to five days has contributed to an incremental loading capacity of 170 million tones resulting in revenues of Rs.100 billion."
India minister cleared of charge BBC News, UK A court in India has acquitted railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in a long-running corruption case. ... Mr Yadav was charged with amassing 4.6m rupees (more than $100,000) between 1990 and 1997 when he was the chief minister of Bihar state. ..... His wife, Rabri Devi, a former chief minister of Bihar, was also found not guilty by the court. ..... The charges relate to a case known as the "fodder scam", which first came to light in 1996. ..... Mr Yadav was charged with embezzling state funds intended to be spent on animal fodder while he was chief minister of Bihar. ...... The country's top detective agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, had charged the minister with having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. ..... Reacting to Monday's verdict by a special court in Bihar's capital, Patna, Mr Yadav said "justice has been done". ...... Laloo Prasad Yadav is one of India's most colourful politicians. He leads an influential regional party in Bihar that is allied with the Congress Party in India's national parliament. ...... He resigned as chief minister of Bihar after the allegations of corruption arose. His wife Rabri Devi was installed in his place. .... Mr Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal party lost power in state elections last year.
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