Author: Dipak Mishra
Publication: The Times of India
Date: March 19, 2009
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rabri-on-brother-Sadhu-Good-riddance/articleshow/4284763.cms
A day after rebel RJD MP Sadhu Yadav spit
venom against "jeeja" or sister's husband Lalu Prasad, Lalu's wife
Rabri Devi came down heavily on her brother, using words harsher than the
ones she ever used for leader of opposition Sushil Kumar Modi during her tenure
as chief minister of Bihar.
"Sadhu's exit will purge the RJD of the
'filth'. He has defamed the party," Rabri thundered on Wednesday. She
said she had favoured the expulsion of Sadhu from the party long back when
he fielded his wife against RJD's official candidate in Gopalganj in the February
2005 Assembly polls.
Incidentally, both the RJD candidate and Sadhu's
wife lost the 2005 election.
Rabri minced no words in expressing her disenchantment
with her brothers, including RJD's Rajya Sabha member Subhash Yadav who is
reported to be sulking for over a year. "They became MLAs, MLCs and MPs
due to the party. Yet they keep on saying that they have gained nothing from
the party," she said, adding she tried several times to reason with her
wayward brothers but to no avail. "We (she and Lalu) faced embarrassment
due to them as the RJD was described as a `sasural' party," she rued.
She said Sadhu's exit would not have any impact
on the RJD. "He has only damaged the party and his expulsion will send
the right message to the people and the party workers," she said and
vowed not to make any move to appease her brothers. "Hum koyee baat nahi
karenge (I will not have any negotiations with him)," she said.
Rabri strongly supported the seat-sharing
deal between her husband and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan. "Saheb (Lalu)
will become PM of the country one day," she reiterated.
Sadhu and Subhash had been in the news for
all the wrong reasons during the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri regime. Sadhu hit
the headlines for manhandling an IAS officer in Patna and opening fire on
JNU students in Delhi. His name also figured in the infamous flood-relief
scam. He has now revolted against Lalu for conceding the Pachimi Champaran
LS seat, which he wanted to contest, to LJP. Gopalganj, from where he is sitting
MP, has been reserved for SC after delimitation.
Subhash, on the other hand, faced kidnapping
charges and was also accused of hurling abuses at the wife of an IAS officer.
"The two brothers were big liabilities for the party and the government,"
said a senior RJD MLA.
