so-essential humor in Indian politics. On Tuesday during the trust vote debate, which many said was a national embarrassment, Lalu saved the day with some hilarious but insightful comments drawn from Bollywood. Lalu's rustic humor is legendary, so also his preference for using Bollywood to illustrate a point is well known, the Times of India wrote. During the debate, just when it appeared that the house would break out in fisticuffs a la the Taipei parliament – especially when a bunch of BJP MPs smuggled in bundles of 1,000 rupee notes to claim that they had been offered the amount (a little over SR1 million) to vote against their own party – Lalu delivered a speech that should go down in the annals of Indian parliamentary debates as an all-time greats. He used Bollywood songs to describe his relationship with the Left. He said, Sau saal pehle mujhe tumse pyaar thha, aaj bhi hai aur kal bhi rahega from the old Dev Anand hit, ‘Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai' (1961) much to the merriment of fellow MPs. Lalu also described the Left's attitude towards UPA with the following song: Tum agar mujhko na chaho to koi baat nahin , tum kisi aur ko chahogi to mushqil hogi from the old Raj Kapoor hit, Dil Hi To Hai (1963). The RJD leader also dipped into the world of Bhojpuri proverbs to declare his dilemma and split loyalties between the UPA and the Left. Roughly speaking, the proverb went, “I love my son, I love my husband, who do I swear by?” Lalu also recounted the story of the ancient Sanskrit literateur, Kalidas, who is known to have been sitting on a branch and chopping it. Lalu then brought the house down by admitting that he “nursed a desire to become Prime Minister just like some of other fellow Lok Sabha members such as Mulayam Singh and Mayawati”. And he was extremely sarcastic with George Fernandes, the veteran JD (U) MP from Muzaffarpur. “George Fernandes saheb, aap tukur tukur kya dekh rahein hain. Aapne Mulayam, Lalu ko Samajwad ka patth pahdaya (Mr George Fernandes, why are staring like that on the other side. After all, you taught us about socialism).” Many speakers got interrupted, shouted down or simply ignored. But when Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad warmed up in his speech, the Lok Sabha either heard in rapt attention or stopped themselves from rolling on the aisles with laughter, the Times wrote. Lalu took digs by the dozen at the Opposition that included, for a change, both the BJP and the Left. As a matter of form, he began with lavishing praise on the Prime Minister and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, saying, “They have taken a very courageous step. It's very bold of the PM to seek a trust vote on one's own choice.” But soon, he was taking jibes at the Left parties whom he compared with the legendary poet Kalidas. “By withdrawing support to the UPA, they've cut the very branch they were sitting on,” Lalu said, as the House broke into laughter. “Leftists' ideology isn't Indian,” he said, “It's from a foreign country. Our ideology is the ideology of Gandhi Baba.” Lalu continued in same fashion, “The Left wanted to go its way; it was their choice. In marriages these days, there's always a possibility of divorce,” he said. Then, recalling an old Hindi film ditty, he trilled, “Tum (Left) agar humko na chaho toh koi baat nahi, tum agar kisi aur ko chahogi toh mushkil hogi .” That had even the Comrades in splits. In between, he turned his attention towards the BJP and the leader of the Opposition L K Advani, saying everybody wants to be PM. “Advaniji is trying.. but he lacks the stature of Vajpayee,” he said. When interrupted from the BJP benches, Lalu hastened to add, “Everybody wants to be PM. Mayawati, Mulayam Singhji want to be PM. Even I, Lalu Prasad, wants to be PM, but I am in no hurry.” Those on treasury benches cracked up on that one. A master of oratorical cadences, Lalu then said, “In this country, no one wants a backward or a minority to be Prime Minister; Manmohan Singhji is of course an exception.” Criticising the BJP's stand on the nuclear deal, Lalu said, “L K Advani did not speak a word in criticism of the nuclear deal or even America.” “He only spoke about Hindutva. Now we have to take the fight into the camp of the communalists,” he thundered. Some immodest self-praise followed: “We have 24 MPs, but we've never pressured the prime minister or Sonia Gandhi to get the CBI cases against me and my wife withdrawn,” he said. Rabri Devi, watching a vintage Lalu perform from home, would have approved. His final words were in shape of an exhortation to the Speaker to not cross the six o clock deadline he had set for the vote. “ Rakshashas (demons) are always vanquished at gau bela (dusk, when the cows return to their sheds). I request the Speaker not to delay the trust vote beyond 6pm. Today the enemies will be defeated at dusk,” he said. An hour of perhaps unparalleled demagoguery in the Lok Sabha in this session got over to tumultuous applause
