Patna, June 17 – Notwithstanding his party’s rout in the Lok Sabha polls barely a month ago, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad holds the key to success in the by-elections to two Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.
The outcome of the June 19 polls is considered crucial for the Janata Dal-United government and has become a prestige issue for its ‘mentor’ Nitish Kumar, who has gone to the extent of calling upon Lalu to support the JD-U candidates – Pavan Kumar Verma and Ghulam Rasool Baliavi – in the by-polls.
Anti-BJP:
Defending Nitish’s move, Bihar Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday said that there was a need for all the anti-BJP parties to come together on one platform now. “Anti-BJPism has taken the place of anti-Congressism of the past,” he said on the sidelines of his ‘Janata Durbar’ now.
But Lalu is apparently not sure whether to bail out Nitish or ask his legislators to vote against the official JD-U candidates. “I will hold a meeting with my party MLAs to decide on the issue,” Lalu said in Patna, holding his political cards close to his chest.
Lalu is scheduled to meet his MLAs to get their views on the issue on Tuesday but the 21 party legislators are divided on extending support to Nitish. Senior RJD MLAs such as Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Bhai Birendra and Bhai Dinesh are against extending support to the JD-U.
They have accused Nitish of trying to break the party and humiliate Lalu in recent months. But RJD insiders said Lalu did not want to help the BJP’s cause by voting against the JD-‘s candidates and weaken the Jitan Ram Manjhi government.
Lalu is said to be not so keen on going for an early state Asembly polls in view of the BJP’s landslide victory in the general elections. He wants the Manjhi government to last its term until November next year.
The JD-U, meanwhile, is hopeful of Lalu’s support in the name of a united fight of the secular forces against the BJP. The BJP, meanwhile, is holding a meeting on Wednesday, a day before the polls, to reveal its strategy.
With the withdrawal of a BJP leader Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, who had earlier filed the nomination papers as an independent in the Rajya Sabha polls, the party is likely to vote for the two other independent nominees in the fray – Sabir Ali and Anil Sharma.
-INDIA TODAY
