GENERALLY it was believed that Modi would ride back to power on a Hindutva wave in December 2002. Yet Secularism branded leaders from across the country were flying into Gujarat to make their presence felt. And how could Lalu Prasad Yadav be not on the list. So he landed in Surat and carried a three day tour through Baroda and Ahmedabad. In his inimitable style, he would regale the audience with his EVM histrionics, making the beep sound – peeeeeeeen – as he pressed the button on a dummy machine. I had my run-in with him at Baroda during his press meet. Picking up on Modi's pet theme of terrorism that election, Lalu made a statement that as Bihar CM, he too handled terror situation from across the border in Bangladesh but never resorted to riots or encounters. It just hit me that Bihar never touched Bangladesh. I ventured only to hate my naivete and asked him in the open presser, "but lalu-ji Bihar does not touch Bangladesh". "It does," he hit back, before rubbing it in. "Is ladke ka bhoogol gol hai," This boy's geography is not proper, to a general laughter in the hall. I was non-plussed. A little embarrassed. Came back to office and checked the map. Bihar did not touch Bangladesh anywhere. Called up all friends in the fraternity as an exercise in salvage. To this day when I meet a Bihari, or a friend from Bengal, I ask whether Bihar touches Bangladesh. The answer is always no. But then that Lalu moment was not coming back again.
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