Bihar polls: Unfazed by seat-sharing issues, Lalu starts handing out tickets for RJD

RJD president Lalu Prasad gave party tickets to candidates he favored, unfazed by the failure of the INDIA bloc, led in Bihar by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, to formally announce a seat-sharing plan.

A stampede-like situation was witnessed outside 10, Circular Road, the bungalow allotted to RJD supreme leader Rabri Devi’s wife, a former CM, on Monday when the couple was returning from Delhi, where they had appeared in court.

As the air remained thick with impatience, the aspirants who had apparently received phone calls from the party began to trickle in, only to emerge a few minutes later, with the party symbol in their hands and a broad smile on their faces.

It is unclear how many candidates received the party list on the day filing of nominations for the second and final phase of voting began, and only four days remained for the first leg candidates to submit their nominations.

Among those who got the RJD symbols are Sunil Singh (Parbatta), who left Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) last week, and Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo, a former multi-term MP from Matihani, who had won the seat twice for the CM-led party.

The candidature of these leaders is seen as part of the strategy of Tejashwi Yadav, the son and heir apparent of the RJD supreme leader, to win over a section of the Bhumihars, a powerful upper caste who traditionally supports the BJP-led NDA.

Several sitting RJD MLAs like Bhai Virendra, Chandrashekhar Yadav (Madhepura) and Israil Mansuri (Kanti) also came out of the party chief’s house, brandishing the party symbol.

The scene is reminiscent of last year’s Lok Sabha elections, when the RJD chief had distributed several party tickets, without waiting for a nod from the alliance partners, who eventually fell in line.

Besides the Congress, the RJD counts among its allies three Left parties and the Vikassheel Insan party of former state minister Mukesh Sahni. A truce is expected with Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s JMM and former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras’ RLJP.