If you’ve been missing Lalu Prasad Yadav’s witty oratory in Parliament – the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader has been disqualified for his involvement in the Fodder Scam – it seems that there is a near identical replacement from, surprise, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Like Lalu, Hukmdev Narayan Yadav is also a Yadav leader from Bihar, a former member of the Janata Party who even today strongly idolises Ram Manohar Lohia and his socialism. And like Lalu, it seems Hukmdev is quite the orator, delivering a witty speech in Parliament on Monday, filled with earthy humour and wise cracks which had the House in splits. In his 30-minute speech, as part of the discussion on the Union Budget, Hukmdev launched into a Lohiaite critique of the Congress, castigating the party for not taking care of the rural populace and backward castes and for splitting the country in two parts – “India” and “Bharat”. Accusing the party of not being Lohiaite enough, he expressed the hope that the Modi government would be.

• published: 12 May 2015
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