February 23, 1998
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POLL 98:
ELECTION IMAGES Cont... Sharad Yadav Janata Dal Madhepura Bihar
Projecting himself as Laloo's opposite -- the clean, cultured, more wholesome Yadav -- he asks: "Do you know my wife's name or my brother-in-law's?" The implication is clear in this the land of Rabri Devi. The man from Jabalpur, whose politics has largely consisted of riding piggyback on others -- he last won in Madhepura thanks to Laloo -- is desperate to carve his own niche. His supporters spread the word too: "Sharad ke saath chakka hai, Laloo ke sath uchakka hai. (Sharad's symbol is the wheel and Laloo's the hooligan)." -- Bharat Desai |
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A helicopter lands in the middle of
nowhere. Sharad Yadav hops out to ask startled, open-mouthed locals the location of a
village. That done, he returns muttering how every village in his constituency looks the
same from the sky: "It's because I am really a sadak ka aadmi (man of the
street)." It's a theme he keeps repeating -- of how a pauper has had the nerve to
take on the king (read Laloo Yadav).
