Lalu turns 76, followers and family celebrate

Undeterred by the sweltering heat, leaders and workers of the RJD in Bihar on Sunday celebrated the 76th birthday of Lalu Prasad, the party’s founding president.

Feasts were organised for the poor by RJD workers in several parts of the city while senior leaders, who greeted their leader in person, joined him in savouring a huge cake, weighing 76 pounds, which was cut in presence of followers and family members.

The uniqueness of the occasion was enhanced by the twin facts of the party now being in power, and the septuagenarian supremo being in town, unlike past many years when prison sentences and poor health kept him away from his people on his birthday.

The former Bihar CM is putting up at 10, Circular Road, a bungalow allotted by the state government to his wife Rabri Devi, who had succeeded him in the seat of power.

Celebrations had begun, in a low key fashion, at midnight when Prasad cut a small cake, surrounded by family members, including younger son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the state’s Deputy CM.

A couple of poignant tweets were put out by braveheart daughter Rohini Acharya, who had impressed all last year by donating one of her kidneys to Prasad, and has flown down from Singapore to behold the sight of her father resurrecting, physically as well as politically.

Doting elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who remains a maverick despite now being a minister, chose to spend the day away in Barsana, a town in Uttar Pradesh associated with his favorite deity Lord Krishna.

Yadav shared on Twitter a clip of himself on a video call with Prasad, wishing him a happy birthday, besides photographs clicked at the famous Radharani temple, where he cut a huge cake and sought divine blessings for his father.

The Twitter timeline of Prasad bore ample testimony to his political heft that has weathered many a storm.

Those whose birthday wishes were acknowledged by the frail septuagenarian included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.

Each of them got replies befitting the relationship Prasad shared with them. Soren, who is roughly the same age as his eldest child, got a fatherly “khush raho” (stay blessed) by way of a reply.

Stalin, who had prefixed his greetings with Tamil honorific “Thiru”, got a thank you in English, followed by “samajik nyay zindabad” in Hindi, underscoring the commitment to social justice that the Tamil Nadu CM’s DMK shares with the RJD.

For the people of Bihar, though, the most engaging sight must have been the birthday tweet from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, now an ally of Prasad. Known to each other for nearly five decades, their past rivalry has been the stuff of legend.

Kumar, the JD(U)’s supreme leader, has been amply supported by Prasad in his efforts to bring together all parties opposed to the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh “Lalan”, who has transformed from a bitter critic to a close friend of Prasad, paid a visit to 20, Circular Road, to offer his birthday wishes.