Lalu prefers UP over Harvard, Stanford

The railway minister gives the opportunity to lecture in Harvard and Stanford a miss for campaigning in Uttar Pradesh polls.

First it was Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and now it is Harvard and Stanford. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, lately called by the World Bank, Harvard and Stanford, has put away all such tempting invites to focus on campaigning for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

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Lalu Prasad was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Silicon Valley Business School in California on April 15 on how he achieved a turnaround of the Indian Railways. During the visit, he was also scheduled to address students of Harvard and Stanford in their respective campuses.

He had told the Rajya Sabha last month: "I have been invited and I will surely go."

But that was then, when the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections were not announced, said Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) officials. But now his party officials reveal, "Laluji is too preoccupied with the election campaign to think of anything else."

"He has addressed public meetings in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Sardhana. In the last phase, he had gone to Mulayam Singh's stronghold Jalaun and Mainpuri. But our main concentration is primarily in eastern Uttar Pradesh," said his media adviser Tehsin Munawwar.

"There are seven RJD candidates and he is also campaigning for the Congress party," he added.

MBA students from University of Texas and University of Virginia had earlier visited India to learn from Lalu Prasad's experience, said an official.