Amid growing dissension in his party over ticket distribution, RJD chief lalu Prasad while announcing the list of party candidates on Thursday preferred to stick to his tried and tested Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) track to win the 2014 poll race in Bihar. A day after on Friday, lalu and his family, though, tried hard to mollify ‘hurt and aggrieved’ party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ramkripal Yadav.
Despite Nitish Kumar’s successful social engineering of cultivating EBC vote-bank to regain power in both 2009 lok Sabha and 2010 State Assembly elections, lalu chose to rely on his M-Y formula which had been biggest pull factor for his 15 years of regime in Bihar and it was all appeared in bold fonts when he released party’s first list of 25 candidates. On remaining Madhepura seat too he, reportedly, is mulling to field a heavyweight Yadav leader or to support his candidate.
Out of 25 party candidates altogether eight, including lalu’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti and wife Rabri Devi are from Yadav caste whereas six of them are from minority community. lalu preferred not to upset all three sitting Rajput candidates Prabhunath Singh, Jagtanand Singh and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh from their constituencies but brought upper caste Brahmin leader Raghunath Jha to contest from Bettiah seat.
Besides, he gave tickets to three candidates from EBC and two from OBC while one Ramji Manjhi from Gaya from mahadalit community.
The RJD chief has also given party tickets to three candidates from outside the party this time. Both Mangani lal Mandal and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha deserted the JD(U) recently and joined the RJD. Kushwaha, interestingly, joined the party when the names of the candidates were being announced on Thursday.
Similarly, lalu fielded Krishna Kumari Yadav, wife of JD(U) leader Ranvir Yadav from Khagaria. Ranvir Yadav’s another wife Poonam Yadav is JD(U) MlA from Khagaria but, said Ranvir Yadav, she would campaign for Krishna Yadav.
Seven new faces featured lalu’s first list of RJD candidates. Both his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti are contesting the lok Sabha poll for first time. Besides, names of Pragati Mehta, a journalist of local vernacular newspaper, Sudhanshu Kumar Bhaskar from Jamui, Bulo Mandal from Bhagalpur, Mohd Tanvir Hassan from Begusarai and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha from Ara are the new faces in the RJD list of candidates.
lalu announced he would take a decision on candidates for Madhepura and Motihari seats soon. Sources said that party leadership was mulling either to support heavyweight Yadav leader from the region Pappu Yadav or to give him ticket from Yadav-dominated Madhepura seat. Pappu, who recently was released from jail in connection with the murder case of veteran left leader of Purnea Ajit Sarkar, had earlier won lok Sabha poll from Madhepura.
For Motihari seat, the RJD leadership, said party sources, was looking for some strong Muslim or Bania candidate whose sizeable vote-bank in the constituency would make all the difference.
The poll observers of the State told The Pioneer that the way lalu announced names of party candidates proved that he already has done his homework and wanted to leave no stone unturned to regain his lost electoral ground in the State.
“It seems he had made up his mind quite early as far as selection of candidates is concerned. This time he has taken every step in the selection process quite thoughtfully and it may reap him political benefit in the poll,” said Ajay Kumar.