In yet another case of family first, RJD chief lalu Prasad announced the names of his wife and daughter from the two constituencies he himself contested in the 2009 lok Sabha polls.
Misa Bharti, eldest daughter of lalu Prasad, will try to avenge her father’s defeat at the hands of JD(U)’s Ranjan Prasad Yadav from Patliputra constituency in 2009. Rabri Devi will be in the fray from Saran where lalu Prasad had defeated BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
After his conviction in a fodder scam case, lalu chose to keep both the seats for his family members. lalu’s decision to field Misa from Patliputra created a major unrest in the party. Unconfirmed reports claimed that senior RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav resigned from the party in the evening.
Ram Kripal Yadav wanted to contest from Patliputra seat as he had earlier represented it and has been nursing the constituency for long.Meanwhile, sources close to Ram Kripal Yadav said, “He may join the BJP on March 8 and become party’s candidate from Patliputra constituency.”
When asked about Ram Kripal Yadav’s dissension, lalu said he did not think the matter was that serious as such things keep happening during elections. In the seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress and the NCP, the RJD will contest 27 out of total 40 lS seats in Bihar. Except Motihari and Madhepura seats, the RJD announced candidates from all other 25 constituencies.
Misa Bharti will contest from Patliputra, Rabri Devi from Saran, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh from Vaishali, Prabhunath Singh from Maharajganj, Hina Shahab, who is wife of jailed RJD strongman Mohd Shahabuddin from Siwan, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, who joined RJD on Thursday, would be the party candidate from Ara, Rajballabh Yadav from Nawada, Sitaram Yadav from Sitamarhi, Anwarul Haque from Sheohar, and Raghunath Jha from West Champaran.
Similarly the party gave tickets to Mangani lal Mandal from Jhanjharpur, Abdul Bari Sidiqui from Madhubani, Jai Prakash Yadav from Banka, Ali Ashraf Fatmi from Darbhanga, Alok Mehta from Ujjiyarpur, Bulo Mandal from Bhagalpur, Jagtanand Singh from Buxar, Ms Krishna Yadav from Khagaria, Tanvir Hassan from Begusarai, Surendra Yadav from Jehanabad, Ramji Majhi from Gaya, Mohd Taslimuddin from Araria, Pragati Mehta, who is a journalist of a leading Hindi newspaper from Munger, and Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar from Jamui constituencies. “The candidates for Motihari and Madhepura will be declared later”, lalu Prasad said.