Lalu's Raj: When Bureaucrats were 'Subjects' and a 'Joker' Call Cost an SSP

In June 1993, Lalu Prasad Yadav organised a massive rally called the "Garib Rally" at Gandhi Maidan, Patna. He personally visited every district headquarters, urging people to attend.

One day, he visited the North Patna Police Headquarters near Gandhi Maidan and held a meeting in the chamber of City SP Ajay Kumar. Right next door was the chamber of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Anil Kumar Malik—technically the most senior police officer—but the Chief Minister chose to ignore him.

Malik was visibly offended. I spoke to him and asked, “The Chief Minister ignored you and prioritised your junior. How do you feel about that?” His reply was blunt: “I don’t care about Lalu.” I told him clearly that his response was for publication. “Aren’t you afraid of Lalu?” I asked. Malik replied, “I do not care for this joker.”

When Lalu was informed that Malik had called him a "joker," his response was, “He’s my servant.”

After returning from Gaya, Lalu suddenly called a press conference at the Chief Minister's residence. The Director General of Police (DGP) was also present. Lalu declared, “There was a plot to blow me up with a bomb, and a rickshaw puller has been arrested.”

When reporters asked for more details, he instructed SSP Malik to elaborate. Malik said, “This was a serious conspiracy, like the one that killed Rajiv Gandhi.” Journalists promptly asked, “Are LTTE operatives present in Patna?”

Lalu snapped at Malik, “Why are you stuttering?”

Within a month, Malik was transferred out of Bihar.

During preparations for that same rally, at a public meeting in Arrah, the District Magistrate (DM) personally brought a glass of water for Lalu on stage. In Gaya, the DM brought food from her own home. In Muzaffarpur, Lalu called the DM on stage and asked the public, “Who is this?”

When the crowd failed to recognise him, Lalu remarked, “What kind of DM is he? Nobody even knows him.”

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s relationship with officers was akin to that of a king and his subjects. He would issue instructions over the phone and hang up before the officer could even respond.

He would often advise officers to think about their families. Once, a 1976-batch IAS officer known for his integrity visited Lalu's residence with a file. Lalu asked, “Do you earn anything extra?” When the officer said no, Lalu scolded him: “Fool! If you die, who will look after your family? No one will.”

Those who played by his rules were given multiple district charges and made heads of important departments.

In one instance, the promotion file of an IAS officer from the 1980 batch was gathering dust at Lalu’s residence. Disheartened, the officer walked onto the lawn where Lalu was sitting and hurled abuses at him in English. Security guards moved in to escort the officer out, but Lalu stopped them: “Let him speak.”

He then called his principal secretary and signed the promotion file immediately.

However, in the infamous fodder scam, the IAS officers who followed Lalu's orders were later arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court sent them to jail.

Sajal Chakraborty, who had become Chief Secretary, died in jail. Other IAS officers such as Phoolchand Singh, K. Arumugam, Mahesh Prasad, Banke Julius, and S.N. Dubey were all convicted and imprisoned for their roles in the scam. Lalu is currently out on bail.

When Lalu was first sent to jail in 1997, the IPS Mess at the Bihar Military Police headquarters was converted into a makeshift jail. Even there, senior bureaucrats, including the Chief Secretary, would visit him for instructions.

When a strike by non-gazetted employees over the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations continued for over two months, then-Chief Minister Rabri Devi convened a meeting with senior IAS officers and the employees' union. She asked the Chief Secretary, "Are you getting state government scales or salaries recommended by the pay revision commission?" The officer clarified, "Since IAS officers belong to All India Services, they get revised scales at par with central officers." The CM responded, "But you are working in the state. Like other employees, you are also in the state government, like the striking employees. Give them the central scale too." And the strike was called off.

During Rabri Devi's tenure, she once called Pancham Lal, Commissioner of Chapra division, saying, “You are harassing my father. Why are you not renewing his gun license?”

The Commissioner asked for her father's age. Upon learning he was 76, the Commissioner replied, “Then I’ll have to arrest your father and confiscate the weapon. You know, people above 75 can’t legally possess arms.”

The Chief Minister, in a saddened tone, said, “Then let it go.”

There were some most-favoured District Magistrates who would bypass their divisional commissioners and the Principal Secretary of the General Administration Department when leaving their headquarters. They spoke directly to Lalu, even when he was not the CM, merely informing him rather than seeking permission from their controlling officers.

Once, a woman IPS officer in uniform reached Lalu's residence and waited for a few minutes. Lalu asked her why she was at the CM's bungalow. She hesitantly replied, "Sir, I want to talk to you in private." Lalu told her, "In private, I talk to only one woman – Rabri."

The officer then requested a transfer to a district neighbouring her IPS husband's posting. Lalu immediately obliged and said, "There was nothing private in your request."