Can the gods lift the guru's 'curse' on Lalu Yadav?

Lalu Prasad’s current political troubles are being attributed to a “curse” (shrap) put on him by his late guru and renowned tantric.

Pagla Baba, or Vibhuti Narayan, had an ashram in Mirzapur, not far from Varanasi. He was a follower of Lord Shiva and the Aghori tradition and was known to be short-tempered, but had a devoted following. Prasad had been visiting him for years. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief went to him in 2013 after getting some relief from the Supreme Court in the fodder scam case. TV visuals from the trip showed Prasad acknowledging Pagla Baba as his “guru”, and the one “protecting” him from his opponents. Prasad even got Pagla Baba to bless his wife Rabri Devi via mobile (she was not with Prasad). If local accounts are to be believed, Prasad sat with the guru for three hours, and at the end of the puja, promised an ambulance and other medical facilities. Years passed but the promise was not kept, not even when he formed the government in Bihar. Because of this, Pagla Baba “cursed” him and said that Prasad had turned arrogant and would pay for it. Although Pagla Baba died in 2014, locals say his “curse” is responsible for Prasad’s political setbacks.

Prasad is deeply devout, however much he might fulminate against the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has visited most major temples in India and ordered a revamp of the highly regarded Shitala Maa temple at Agam Kuan in Patna when he came to power. Some years ago, he had performed an elaborate maharudrabhishek at the Baba Hariharnath temple in Vaishali (north Bihar), an ancient shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.