Patna: Maverick Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, known for his witty one-liners, may be out of the poll scene this time but the presence of both his sons in the poll fray has added new interest in the second phase of polling in Bihar.
Both the brothers who were ministers in the previous Grand Alliance government bank on their own “charisma” this time, rather than their parents. While their father is in jail in connection with the fodder scandal, mother Rabri Devi, also the former Chief Minister, has not stepped out of her home to seek support for her children so far.
Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is contesting elections from Hasanspur assembly seat in Samastipur whereas his younger son Tejashwi Yadav is in fray from Raghopur seat in Vaishali district. Of them, Tejashwi carries a bigger responsibility on his head since he is not only the Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate for Bihar but also the lone star campaigner for his party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as well as the alliance.
But the problem for Tejashwi is that he has been paying only little attention to his own constituency as he remains extremely busy with the poll campaigns of his Grand Alliance candidates. What is more intriguing, each rally of Tejashwi is drawing huge crowds of the masses, especially youths, as a result of which every candidate wants Tejahswi to campaign for him. The situation is such that he is addressing an average 14 to 16 rallies every day. On Saturday, he created a record of sorts by addressing as many as 19 election rallies.
Win elections
The masses got emotional when he reached his home constituency Raghopur to seek their support on Saturday, after taking time off from his busiest campaign schedule. “After taking your blessings, I am now out to win elections for Bihar. So, it’s your responsibility to ensure victory from me. I have entirely left it to you,” he told the masses.
Tejashwi is locked in a triangular contest in Raghopur yet the going doesn’t appear tough for him given the presence of large number of Yadav and Muslim voters in the constituency, who are united in favour of the RJD. There is also significant presence of Rajput and Paswan voters in the constituency as well but their votes are likely to be split with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) fielding a Rajput candidate from the seat while Paswan community has been the traditional voters of the LJP headed by Chirag Paswan, son of Dalit politician late Ram Vilas Paswan.
A significant fact about Raghopur is that it has been the traditional seat of Tejashwi’s parents for the past 25 years. His father Lalu Prasad got elected from this seat for the first time in 1995. In 2000 and 2005, his mother Rabri Devi was elected from there but in 2010, she lost the elections to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. However, in 2015, Tejashwi won the elections from this seat.
The contest, however, looks straight in Hasanpur constituency from where Tejashwi’s elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav is contesting elections. In the 2015 assembly elections, Tej Pratap had won elections from Mahua seat in Vaishali district but he shifted to this seat this time apprehending his estranged wife Aishwarya Rai could queer poll pitch there.
Poll promises
Villagers said Tej Pratap is toiling hard to win this seat by launching extensive campaigns and racing against time to cover every village and also every house. The fact that he happens to be the son of a former chief minister is helping him easily connect with the masses yet it all depends on how seriously the masses take his poll promises. This constituency is also dominated by Yadav and Muslim voters which apparently prompted Yadav scion to consider it as his safe seat.
“People say our ‘Development Uncle’ has not carried out any development work in this constituency and that’s why I have come here to light the lamp of progress and bring happiness in the life of the masses,” Tej Pratap said, in an oblique reference to chief minister Nitish Kumar.
It is also very strange that no siblings of the two brothers—Tejashwi or Tej Pratap—have come out of their homes to campaign for them in this election. Especially, the complete absence of elder sister and Rajya Sabha Member Misa Bharti indeed appears very strange.
“May be that could be a part of election strategy but this is for the first time that both their parents and their siblings have gone completely missing from the poll campaign,” commented a political expert.
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