Copyright news18
As campaigning for the first phase of polling in Bihar enters its last leg, the internal battle of Lalu Yadav’s family, the first family of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has spilled on to the political field, threatening to give an unprecedented twist to the battle for Bihar. Tej Pratap Yadav’s Janshakti Janta Dal is flexing its muscles in his brother Tejashwi Yadav’s Raghopur, threatening to snatch the once assured seat of Mahua in Vaishali. News18 spoke to the locals on ground. Some Mahua residents see the Tej Pratap Yadav vs Tejaswi Yadav poll fight as the proverbial battle between two cats where the monkey could run away with the roti. “Dono bhai lad rahe hain. Mahua RJD ka gadh hai kyunki ye yadav bahulya chetra hai. Per agar Yadav bant jayega to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) ke Santosh Singh ka fayda ho sakta hai (Mahua is an RJD bastion. Yadavs dominate here. But if the Yadav vote gets split, LJP’s Santosh Singh could benefit),” businessman Arun Kumar, a self-confessed fan of the late LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan fan, says. He adds that the minority votes also have an option in Afsha Parvin, who aspired for a Janata Dal United (JDU) ticket but is now fighting independently. The buzz grew in Mahua and Raghopur after Tejashwi canvassed for RJD candidate Mukesh Ranjan. Tejashwi did not name Tej Pratap and repeated his message of naukri. “Agar naukri chahiye to Tejashwi ka hath mazboot kijiye. Mukesh ko vijay mala pehna de na (If you want jobs, you will have to strengthen Tejaswi’s hand. Should I assure victory to Mukesh then?),” he asked Mahua residents before garlanding the RJD candidate. Tej Pratap, however, came all guns blazing. The buzz grew in Mahua and Raghopur after Tejashwi canvassed for RJD candidate Mukesh Ranjan. (News18) “Chunav ke baad usko jhunjhuna pakda denge (He will be bluffed after the elections),” Tej Pratap reacted after Tejashwi campaigned in Mahua. The elder son of Lalu-Rabdi called his younger brother a novice. “Uska doodh ka dant abhi toota nahi hai,” Tej Pratap said. Tej Pratap also landed in Tejashwi’s constituency Raghopur to campaign on Monday. Another Yadav-dominated seat, Raghopur, saw a huge turnout in the Tej Pratap rally, making political analysts sit up and take notice if November 6 will see the unthinkable — a split in the Yadav vote. Rameshwar Rai, a worker at a tea shop in Mahua, openly declared himself a Lalu Yadav supporter. So will he vote for RJD? “Lalu ke bete ko vote denge (Will vote for Lalu’s son, the elder one),” he says. “Bada beta ko — Tej ko,” he said when quizzed further. Dr Pramod Bhagat, a medical practitioner, explains the dichotomy. “Tej Pratap is also Lalu’s son like Tejashwi, but he also brought a medical college to Mahua when he was a health minister. That is a big deal,” he says. The medical college , even though not functional, is a talking point in Mahua. As state health minister Tej Pratap had initiated the move and now supporters in Mahua feel it is time to say thank you. You ask them, how without being in government how Tej Pratap, who has been thrown out of the RJD, can do any development work and pat comes the reply. “This fight will be sorted when the elections are over. Vote Tej ko do ya Tejaswi ko…Lalu ji ko hi jayega (This fight will be sorted after the polls. You vote for either son it will go to Lalu Yadav only),” he says. Shiv Chandar Rai, a farmer, sums up.
