Parliament on Tuesday was witness to the Lalu Prasad Yadav of yore, using wit, humour and some drama to capture the attention of the House and to leave Congress leaders squirming in their seats.

The occasion was the discussion on the Presidential Address. Positioning himself as a jilted lover, Lalu raised his face to the Treasury benches and said: “Matlab nikal gaya to pehchante nahin (your purpose served, you don’t even acknowledge me)”.

The touch of pathos to define the Congress indifference towards him devastatingly complete, Lalu paused for effect. While a stoic Prime Minister Manmohan Singh looked on, Sonia Gandhi, Lalu’s ally of 10 years, squirmed and smiled, covering half her face with her hand. The other occupants of the Treasury benches seemed as embarrassed.

However, there was no stopping the man they had unleashed on the other side much too often during the last five years. “I was a freelancer of the Congress for 10 years,” Lalu said, pouring his heart out. “The insulting treatment meted out to us by some Congress people is not good.”

Reminding Sonia that he had complained to her as well as the Prime Minister, the RJD leader added: “The starting phase is not good... The message emanating from the expansion (of the Cabinet) has not been good.”

Delhi, Lalu warned, is “Mayanagri (an illusionary city)”. “No one comes (to power) permanently. So many people came to rule here in the past. Krishna went away, Ram and Rahim too... What would be your importance if someone else comes?”

... contd.