A day before >Tej Pratap and Tejaswi , sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, face the electorate in the third phase of the Bihar Assembly elections on Wednesday, The Hindu interacted with the Yadav family, including its patriarch, on the prospects of the Grand Alliance or "Mahagathbandhan" and the ups and downs of the campaign.
As the last-minute preparations for polling in Raghopur and Mahua (from where Tejaswi and Tej Pratap are contesting) go on in the former Chief Minister’s sprawling Circular Road bungalow here on Tuesday, Mr. Prasad said Prime Minister Narendra >Modi’s attack on his party and family members “is a recognition of the fact that we [the Grand Alliance] have managed to pin him down.”
“The BJP and [Prime Minister] Modi are taken aback by the fact that the RJD and the Congress are working to establish Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar again, and not only that, this election is not a fight for just one State, but between Mr. Modi and all who value socialism and secularism,” he said.
“It was because we were scattered that he was able to become Prime Minister. After these elections, you will see how the situation in Indian politics changes,” he said. “This is not Maharashtra or Haryana, this is Bihar,” he added for good measure.
Asked about his earlier differences with Mr. Kumar and what prompted him to >endorse him as the chief ministerial candidate, Mr. Prasad said: Woh sab hawa ho gaya [Our differences melted into the air].”
His daughter Misa Bharti had more details of what weighed in on that decision.
“We were not sure our vote transference would take place if we announced a name, but the feedback from the ground assured us that this was not an issue,” Ms. Bharti said.
Hamare paas dulha declared hai, inke paas dulha kahaan hai ? [Our bridegroom has been declared, where is theirs (NDA)],” Mr. Prasad asked. He took exception to what Mr. Modi said at a rally on Monday about a conspiracy to bring in reservation for “a certain community” and dilute the provision for the backward classes.
“He is ignorant. Everyone knows that nobody can give reservation in this country on the basis of religion. Earlier he had used gau maas [beef] to polarise voters. He is spreading a virus, but I have the DDT spray,” he said. He also objected to what the Prime Minister said about Misa Bharti at the rally. Beti, beti hoti hai [a girl child is everyone’s daughter]. My daughter has an MBBS degree, polled three lakh votes in her election. On the one hand, he [Mr. Modi] says beti padhao, beti badhao , and then says things like this,” he said.
