Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had old friend Lalu Prasad close to his heart till end

PATNA: Once considered the man Friday of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Rahguvansh Prasad Singh remained concerned about his old friend even while undergoing treatment in intensive care unit (ICU). He died at AIIMS-Delhi on Sunday.
“Lalu ke bail bhelai (did Lalu get bail)?” Raghuvansh asked Kedar, his close associate, in the ICU of AIIMS-Delhi on September 11, a day after shooting a letter to the RJD chief from his ICU bed saying sorry for his inability to remain by his side anymore. “Since the death of Jannayak Karpoori Thakur, I have stood behind you for 32 years. But no more. I am sorry,” the five-term MP from Vaishali wrote to Lalu, who is serving jail term in Ranchi in fodder scam cases.
“When told that Lalu did not get bail, sir became restless and sad and went to sleep”, Kedar told TOI over the phone after the demise of the socialist stalwart at AIIMS-Delhi where he was admitted on August 4 for the treatment of pneumonia after recovering from Covid infection in July. The Jharkhand high court has deferred the hearing on Lalu’s bail plea to October 9 in a fodder scam case.
Raghuvansh Babu, as people fondly called him, was respected by one and all for his simple living, plain speaking, highest degree of integrity, erudition and excellent parliamentary career. The former professor of mathematics was a politically disillusioned man in his fag end of life, but remained conscious of the public decorum despite his poor health as he wrote to Lalu in personal capacity on a plain paper but his subsequent letters, including the one to CM Nitish Kumar the same day, on his letter pad as a politician concerned over the falling standards of politics and showing love for his home constituency Vaishali and its development.
Asking Lalu without naming him that what was happening now, Raghuvansh reminded the RJD chief of the socialist slogans like “Rani ke pet se nahi, ballot ke box se raja paida hota hai (now, king is not born out of a queen’s womb but from ballot box) and ‘Sawdhan, pud aur paise se hona hai gumrah nahi, seene pe goli khakar nikle munh se aah nahi (Don’t get swayed by post and money, face bullet on chest but never say uff),” the man who visualised MGNREGA and implemented it as the Union minister in the UPA-1 government in the country, expressed his pain over the present day politics.
PM Narendra Modi, before inaugurating the three petroleum projects in Bihar, remembered Raghuvansh Babu as a man firmly rooted to his ground and ideology with a good understanding of the poor and poverty. “There had been a churning going on inside Raghuvansh Babu for the last 3-4 days and he expressed his feelings in his letters. He has left a void in national politics,” the PM said in his condolence. “Jin adarsho ko lekar aur jinke saath chale the, ab sambhav nahi ho pa raha tha,” the PM said about Raghuvansh in a veiled reference to Lalu. He also urged CM Nitish Kumar to fulfil Raghuvansh’s last wishes which he had mentioned in his letter, requesting him (Nitish) to implement MGNREGA programme in farm sector in state as well, among other things, specifically for Vaishali.
“Raghuvansh Babu belonged to the extinct species of politician. His character in public life was an example for us. He was so erudite that he never used written statements while speaking in Parliament. His son Satya Prakash told me over the phone that Raghuvansh Babu had asked him to bring his letter pad in the ICU and circulate the letters written by him,” recalled senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary.