Vandals Of History Afghanistan's Taliban regime remains undeterred from its hard-line agenda of destroying historically valuable Buddhist idols. A look at the present regime and its slide to orthodox fundamentalism at a time when a drought has ravaged its economy and people.

Taking On the Family
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Yadav is once again facing a tough fight for survival--this time prompted by a near revolt in the RJD fuelled by rumours of a dynastic takeover. Ranjan Yadav has emerged as a potential rival to Rabri Devi, enjoying the support of both the party rebels and the NDA allies.

Chennai Confusion
The upshot of the great Tamil circus: Jayalalitha needs Moopanar, but not the Congress.

Creepy Acquisition
With Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha determined to bring corporate payslips comprehensively into the taxman's dragnet, the salaried class is having a few palpitations. For them, it means that a long era of tax-free emoluments is coming to an end.

"Indians lack unity"
Two of cricket's finest brains met for a rare conversation:Bishen Singh Bedi takes on the role of interviewer for Aaj Tak, seeking to get into the mind of Australian captain Stephen Waugh.

Revenge Of the Bears The sudden fall in share-prices points to yet another rigging controversy, and raises questions about the efficacy and credibility of SEBI as a regulator.

STATES: BIHAR

Taking On the Family

Laloo Yadav is once again facing a tough fight for survival, this time prompted by a near revolt in the RJD following rumours of a dynastic take-over

By Farzand Ahmed and Sanjay K. Jha

Strategy meets of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leadership these days resemble story-telling sessions in a village courtyard. Laloo Prasad Yadav is the storyteller and his party faithful make up the audience. Last week's fable centred on a few unscrupulous hunters who were on the prowl. ''Shikari aaye ga. Jaal bichayega. Dana dalega. Khaoge to phans jaoge. Tum mut khana
(The hunter will come and spread his net. You will be trapped if you touch the bait).''

			FAMILY RELAY: Laloo and Rabri's (left) efforts to promote their kith and kin, including son-in-law Sailesh Kumar (top) and his family, have alienated senior RJD leaders

The meaning was lost on at least one of the loyalists who had assembled at Chief Minister Rabri Devi's Anne Marg bungalow last week. ''But who are the hunters?'' he asked. ''Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan and Sushil Kumar Modi who are asking my friend Ranjan Yadav to break our party and form a government with their unconditional support,'' Laloo explained.

Ever since he became the Bihar chief minister for the first time in 1990, Laloo has seen many ups and downs-and even the insides of a few jails. If he had been rattled, it never showed. But now, there is panic in his camp.

The sudden turnabout came last week on the day Laloo organised the "Gaon Bachao, Desh Bachao" rally in Patna against the Centre's ''anti-farmers, anti-people policy''. By the standards that Laloo himself had set, the rally was a disaster. Though his followers claim that over 5 lakh attended, official estimates suggest the crowd was around 50,000. Several senior RJD leaders stayed away from the rally, saying it wasn't a party affair but ''a bid to save the family''. The absentees included four of the party's seven Lok Sabha members, nearly 30 of the 115 MLAs and half a dozen ministers. Dissident leaders who boycotted the event said they felt humiliated that the posters and banners for the rally did not mention any names except those of Laloo and Rabri Devi. Worse, some posters even projected Laloo's school-going son Tej Pratap as ''Yuva Samrat''.

Typically, Laloo later claimed it was a ''mischief engineered by my enemies'', but the evidence on the dais supported the dissidents' claim that it was a ''family rally''. Occupying centrestage was the Yadav family: Laloo, Rabri, daughter Misa Bharti's husband Sailesh Kumar, his father and two of Rabri's brothers, including Subhash Yadav.

There was more bad news for Laloo. His famed ''my'' (Muslim-Yadav) combination has also developed cracks as three controversial Muslim MPs - Anwarul Haq, Mohammad Shahabuddin and Taslimuddin - have turned against him. They were angry over Laloo's reported remarks that they were suspected ISI agents and had to mend their ways. The dissidents lapped it up, saying ''this is an insult to the Muslim community which supports Laloo and the RJD. How can we tolerate such an insulting remark?''

Laloo is livid over reports that the rally was organised to project Misa Bharti as her mother's successor. Whatever the truth, rebel activity reached frenetic levels in both Delhi and Patna. Ranjan, once Laloo's trusted aide and currently RJD working president, was contacted by NDA leaders from the state-Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan and Sharad Yadav-who repeatedly promised him unconditional support in case he managed to muster enough RJD legislators to form a separate group or a new party.

According to insiders, the NDA-backed rebels have drawn up a plan to pull down the Rabri Government by abstaining or voting against money bills. If this happens, Rabri would have to resign. But the dissidents would need to form a separate bloc of 39 MLAs to escape disqualification under the anti-defection law. Nagmani, a rebel MP, claims that 50-60 MLAs have pledged to support Ranjan Yadav. The NDA, with its combined strength of 83 MLAs, has offered unconditional support from outside. All this adds up to a substantial 133 in a House of 243 members.

Laloo, a shrewd operator, has initiated pre-emptive measures. He believes - and has told his partymen - that the NDA plans to install Ranjan only to topple him later, forcing the Governor to impose President's rule in the state. The Opposition's calculation, it is supposed, is that once out of power and behind bars, the ''royal'' couple would lose their clout.

Mystery surrounds the sudden rift between Laloo and Ranjan. Party insiders claim that Ranjan had been unhappy for some time now because the coterie around Laloo-Rabri and the over-ambitious family members had isolated the party strongman. Ranjan began to emerge as the rallying point for the dissidents. The one-time target of taunts of Laloo's acolytes, Ranjan is said to have announced that he was the ''asli Yadav''. Recently, a meeting organised by Ranjan in Madhubani district was disrupted by Laloo supporters.

This seems to have been the turning point in the relations between the old friends. Ranjan, backed by Nagmani and some dissidents, took a vow to end the Laloo-Rabri raj. Waiting in the wings were the earlier friends-turned-foes Nitish Kumar, Modi and Paswan. They established contacts with the rebels who felt it was ''now or never''.

Yet, even the harshest of his critics are not ready to underestimate Laloo's political acumen. NDA leaders concede that as he has managed to do many times in the past, Laloo could still pull a few rabbits out of his hat. Shankar Prasad Tekriwal, the dissident finance minister, has been vacillating. He boycotted the rally, but now says that voicing concern about lack of development did not mean he wanted a change in the leadership or that he would resign to join the rebels camp. ''I would not do anything which would strengthen the hands of either the Opposition or the rebels,'' he has declared. Water Resources Minister Jagdanand Singh, who had also stayed away from the rally has backtracked. Talking about development, he says, does not amount to dissident activity. This has emboldened Laloo to declare that those who were opposed to the leadership should quit the party instead of making noises every now and then.

However, what is worrying Laloo this time is pure political arithmetics. RJD dissidents need 39 MLAs to split the party. This, together with the NDA's 83 MLAs would add up to an absolute majority in the Assembly (see box). The success of this ploy could spell political doom for Laloo.

But it is not going to be roses all the way for Ranjan, either. He is reported to be in two minds over seeking help from NDA partners, particularly the BJP. He has, in the past, vigorously campaigned against the BJP and any help from his one-time foes could tarnish his image. Besides, those who offer unconditional support tend to withdraw it sooner rather than later. Ranjan, therefore, is setting his sights on weaning away at least 90 party legislators. That's a tall order-one which may give Laloo yet another reprieve.

MetroScape
Triple Act
What I would love to do more than anything else in the world is to write another play," says Gurcharan Das. "But I don't know if I have the courage." He should have dollops of it, going by the audience reaction to his 9 Jakhoo Hill--performed to mark the release of Three English Plays by Das --at Delhi's India Habitat Centre
last week.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi and Mumbai: Adventure One Sport

Mumbai: Smooth Bar

Delhi: Good Earth Showroom

Polo, like many other events, is bringing about the resurgence of the almost forgotten royals. A chance, writes INDIA TODAY's Principal Correspondent Anshul Avijit, to say Maharaja again with an unctuous post-modernist gusto in Despatches.

"The only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of the music group, Strings, in conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro in
Interviews.