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Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad had boasted he would halt Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s march. But, on Friday, the RJD was reduced to an insignificant player in Bihar politics by Modi’s juggernaut. The BJP leader’s bitter rival Nitish Kumar bit the dust; his party could win only two Lok Sabha seats.
The RJD-Congress combine bagged six seats, with the Congress adding just two to the kitty. Lalu, who was hoping for a comeback, could not increase the 2009 election’s tally of four. Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti lost their seats of Saran and Pataliputra, respectively. Ramkripal Yadav, who defected to the BJP, won the Pataliputra seat.
Lalu, who built his political fortunes on formidable Muslim-Yadav vote bank, failed to grasp the strong undercurrents sweeping across the state. The RJD polled only 1.3 per cent of the vote share in the state.
After his conviction in the fodder scam case last October, he was written off by political observers. Although he could not improve his tally, the RJD could maintain status quo as far as number of seats are concerned.
Not just the Lok Sabha polls but with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls next year, Lalu had driven a shrewd bargain with the Congress virtually driving out the Lok Janshakti Party into the arms of the BJP, hoping thereby to counter arch- rival Nitish Kumar.
However, an RJD insider saw a silver lining in the results. “Ät least in 2015 Assembly polls, Modi will surely wipe off his enemy No. 1 Nitish from the face of Bihar and then we will make a come back in the state.”
