Against all odds, RJD fights for a comeback

It’s a ‘life or death’ battle for the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar. But this has not changed what the party has been offering the electorate — a combination of populist promises based on social justice, its pet theme, and the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) equation as its key strategy.

The RJD and its leader Lalu Prasad — who have been struggling to repeat its electoral miracles since 2005 — believe that the projection of Narendra Modi by the Bharatiya Janata Party is helping the revival of the M-Y magic on the surface. Challenges

But Lalu Prasad faces two challenges — the first being the notoriety of the 15-year regime of Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, and the second his decision to promote his children into politics. But what may help him is the strong anti-incumbency among Yadavs against the Nitish Kumar Government, and the reluctance of minorities to vote for the BJP-led alliance.

Minorities The minorities apparently have decided to vote against the BJP and to defeat its candidates by voting tactically.

In a three-cornered fight, where the alliances led by the JD(U), RJD and BJP are engaged in a pitched battle, the vote of minorities will be decisive.

No wonder why Lalu Prasad is fighting to keep the communal forces at bay. “These communal forces will divide the country. BJP is just a mask, RSS is the real face,” he said here on Sunday after releasing his party’s manifesto that offers reservation for minorities and the implementation of the Sachar and Ranganath Mishra committee reports.

He has a warning for the corporate leaders who support Modi. “Modi and the BJP stand for riots and murders. Your business will flourish only in a peaceful atmosphere. So I request those industrialists who support Modi to reconsider their stand in the interest of their own business,” Lalu Prasad said.

Out on bail, Lalu so has far attended about 75 meetings across the State. His party says the meetings – where he first attacked Nitish Kumar and then the BJP and its leaders -- have received good response from the public.

“We are opposing two brands of communalism here. The Narendra Modi brand propagated by Sushil Kumar Modi, and the LK Advani brand of which Nitish Kumar is the brand ambassador,” says Ramachandra Purve, the State President of the party.

The participation of Muslims in the meetings of RJD-Congress alliance is considerably huge. On the ground, too, their candidates are welcomed in the madrassas and gatherings around mosques. Yadavs, the backbone of the alliance, are also not going away from Lalu.

“Those who had gone away from uswill come back this time. Yadavs were treated very badly by the Nitish Kumar Government. We have no other option than to support the RJD,” says Kedar Yadav of Danapur. Lalu’s own experience is being portrayed as a conspiracy against Yadavs by the Bihar Government, though facts are otherwise.

It is not just the possibility of the revival of M-Y combination that makes RJD happy. For the JD(U), the BJP is the main enemy. In many constituencies, the ruling party’s candidates are those who can cut into the probable votes of the BJP.

It seems that in a triangular fight, Nitish Kumar does not mind if some of the RJD-Congress alliance candidates win at the expense of the JD(U).

Apart from the M-Y combination, the alliance also aims at a section of Dalit votes where the Congress had a stake in the past.

They also hope that at least some sections of the upper caste will come back to the Congress, though it appears to be a distant possibility.

COMMENT NOW