RJD chief Lalu Prasad addressing an election rally in Chhapra
When Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ranchi in October last year after being found guilty in one of the fodder scam cases, there were many who predicted doom for his party. He was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, and the RJD became rudderless after he was packed off to jail.
Six months later, Lalu's party appears to have bounced back, positioning itself as the main challenger to Narendra Modi's BJP in the 40 Lok Sabha seats of Bihar. Trends emerging from the first three phases of polling in the state suggest that the Muslims, who comprise 17% of the voters in the state, have rallied behind the RJD-Congress-NCP alliance, and the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combine is propelling the party's surge, replacing chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) as the main "secular" force in the state.
The 66-year-old Lalu, who, post his conviction, stands barred from contesting polls for 10 years, is spearheading the RJD's charge. An indefatigable campaigner, he has been crisscrossing the state on a helicopter, trying to reach out to his alliance's support-base. In his rallies, he regales the crowds with his earthy wit.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the RJD's tally in the Lok Sabha plummeted to a mere four, ceding the pole position to the JD(U)-BJP combine, which won 32. Lalu himself lost from Pataliputra, but somehow managed to retain Saran. As he cannot run for any election, he has fielded his wife Rabri Devi from Saran, and his oldest daughter Misa Bharti from Pataliputra.
An improved performance in the parliamentary elections from Bihar is certain to breathe fresh life into the RJD, which will be expected to use it to maintain its relevance in the state's polity. The Congress, which faces a more daunting task of limiting its damage across the country in the face of a resurgent BJP, will have no option but to persist with its partnership with Lalu's party.
Lalu's biggest challenge, however, will be to streamline his party's succession tangle. His two sons, Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, have failed to exhibit any leadership qualities so far. Party elders resent their ascent. His wife and daughter face difficult contests in their parliamentary constituencies.
Lalu was born on June 11, 1948 in Phulwaria, a village in Bihar's Gopalganj district. He developed an affinity for politics at an early stage in life. In 1973, he became the President of Patna University Students' Union. Other members of his team, interestingly, were Sushil Kumar Modi and Ravi Shankar Prasad, both of whom are now important leaders of the BJP.
When Jayaprakash Narayan, or JP, launched his movement against the imposition of Emergency, Lalu emerged as one of its leading lights. Patna University became the movement's nerve centre in Bihar. Lalu entered the Lok Sabha in 1977 at the age of 29 on the Janata Party ticket. He became an MLA in 1980, and in 1990, he became the chief minister of Bihar after vanquishing Ram Sundar Das and Raghunath Jha in a leadership contest.
But Lalu's best moment came on September 23 that year when he ordered the arrest of senior BJP leader L K Advani at Samastipur to bring his Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra to an abrupt halt. Lalu became the toast of the "secular" crowd.
Lalu's downfall started when his name got embroiled in the fodder scam in 1996. He parted ways with the Janata Dal a year later to form his own party, the RJD. When a court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him in 1997 for his alleged role in the fodder scam, Lalu was forced to resign from the chief minister's post. He installed his wife, Rabri Devi as his successor.
In 2004, the RJD chief became the country's railway minister in UPA-I, and was credited with scripting the department's turnaround. But he failed to prevent his party's ouster from power in Bihar in the assembly polls held in 2005, when the JD(U)-BJP alliance emerged victorious. He failed to get a berth in the UPA government when it was re-elected at the Centre in 2009. For the first time in almost two decades, he was bereft of power both at the Centre and in Bihar.