Lalu Yadav was disqualified 2 years in the past following his conviction in fodder rip-off case (File)
Patna:
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Friday got here out with a subdued battle cry for the Meeting polls in Bihar.
A five-line tweet which displayed his fondness for verse however lacked his trademark flamboyance, was all that got here from the septuagenarian after the EC introduced the ballot schedule.
“Utho Bihari, karo taiyari/ Janta ka shasan abki bari/ Bihar mein badlaav hoga/ Afsar raj khatm hoga/ Ab Janta ka raaj hoga”, ran the tweet.
Asking the individuals of Bihar to convey their very own authorities to energy, the publish made a veiled reference to the alleged excessive handedness of paperwork below the JD(U)-BJP rule however fell shy of a frontal assault on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his arch rival, or the close to hegemonic saffron get together which considers him a bete noire.
Thought-about invincible when the undivided Bihar was dominated by Prasad, and later his spouse Rabri Devi, the RJD has witnessed its fortunes dwindle since 2005 when it was ousted from energy.
The 2015 Meeting polls introduced a brand new lease of life to the get together as Prasad and Kumar took all unexpectedly as they buried the hatchet and fashioned the Grand Alliance taking the Congress – a spent power within the state – on board.
Prasad, who had been disqualified two years in the past following his first conviction in a fodder rip-off case, canvassed with fireplace and the brand new coalition gained fingers down, halting the BJP juggernaut set in movement with Narendra Modi’s ascent.
The elections noticed Kumar returning because the CM for the primary time whereas each sons of Prasad occupied cupboard berths with a swagger that stemmed from the RJD rising as the one largest get together with 80 seats below its belt.
Nonetheless, the get together was left excessive and dry when the chief minister in July 2017 made an abrupt exit from the Grand Alliance and returned to the NDA, unable to take the warmth generated by a cash laundering case during which the title of Tejashwi Yadav, his then deputy and Prasad”s youthful son, had cropped up.
Makes an attempt by the RJD to politically milk Kumar”s “betrayal of mandate” have born no fruit to date. The get together”s tally within the 243-strong Meeting has nosedived to below 70, thanks to some defeats in by-polls and a major variety of defections by sitting MLAs within the current previous.
These turning their backs on the RJD in current instances included Parsa MLA Chandrika Rai whose daughter”s nasty marital dispute with Tej Pratap Yadav, the mercurial elder son of the proverbial “first couple” of RJD, has change into a significant embarrassment for the get together.
The NDA has additionally made its intentions clear to make the “injustice” meted out to newly-married Aishwarya Rai a ballot situation.
The youthful son Tejashwi Yadav has been anointed by the daddy as inheritor obvious and approaches the Meeting elections because the RJD”s chief ministerial candidate.
He, nevertheless, is confronted with an unenviable scenario with many within the get together, like late founding member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, having questioned his management abilities.
Not too long ago, former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi too walked out of the Grand Alliance, which had come to be helmed by the RJD with Congress and three smaller events in tow.
Mr Manjhi has since been coaching his weapons at Mr Yadav whereas singing paeans to Kumar in opposition to whom he had raised a banner of revolt when requested to step down as CM to make method for the return of his mentor.
Yet one more blow has come into the type of open revolt from Upendra Kushwaha, chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Occasion, who is claimed to have made up his thoughts to stop the Grand Alliance and return to the NDA, however the chilly vibes he shares with Nitish Kumar.
“Tejashwi Yadav shouldn’t be but ripe to tackle Nitish Kumar. We don’t want to battle a misplaced battle. We could contemplate persevering with within the Grand Alliance if a extra appropriate face is projected,” Kushwaha stated right here on Thursday at a celebration assembly during which he was licensed to take a call on the RLSPs future transfer.
The 30-year-old Tejashwi Yadav, admired even by critics for his composure, might barely conceal his frustration when reporters posed earlier than him questions, shortly earlier than he hit the streets driving a tractor in solidarity with the “Bharat Bandh” referred to as by farmers” our bodies.
“It is a unusual demand. How can different events anticipate the RJD to resolve its management as per their needs?
We by no means ask them to seek the advice of us whereas deciding their officebearers. And I ponder why all people is so inquisitive about seatsharing within the Grand Alliance. Even the NDA has not been capable of announce its personal formulation,” Mr Yadav snapped.
The NDA faces a problem within the type of revolt from Chirag Paswan-led LJP, however the get together is unlikely to spice up the RJDs prospects. Its proclamation of fielding candidates in opposition to the JD(U) could, on the most, trigger some issues for the get together headed by the Chief Minister.
Such a scenario might be benefit BJP, which has been determined to realize an higher hand within the state however cautious of rubbing Kumar the fallacious method for worry of his once more becoming a member of fingers with Prasad and provides rise to a deadly mixture.
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