India has not seen a politician quite like Laloo Yadav. A mesmerizing bundle of odds—hero to some, villain to others, a self-fashioned champion of the underdog and yet more imperious than the most well-heeled feudal. Charming and ruthless by turns, Laloo Yadav has repeatedly defied predictions of doom. He is not finished still with the business of leaving his imprint on politics and society.

Here, for the first time, is the fascinating story of Laloo Yadav and his helmsmanship of Bihar, a state different from any other in the abject acceptance of its wretchedness.

A brilliant account seen through Sankarshan Thakur’s unsparing journalistic eye. This is neither a hatchet job nor a hagiography; it is a plain tale of a complex populist and what his brand of politics does to people.

‘In terms of revealing its thoroughness, this is a tour de force of reportorial writing. No one has achieved this degree of critical sensitivity in defining Laloo Yadav.’—Professor Walter Hauser

‘Blazing prose, a saga of Bihar’s despair. His story is not funny. In its sheer ordinariness it is terrifying.’—Prem Shankar Jha

‘This book is one of the few good results of Laloo’s betrayal of Bihar. A frightening and dispassionate description.’—Vijay Nambisan