At Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) parliamentary board meeting on March 20, party chief Lalu Prasad was authorised to take final call on selection of party candidates for the Lok Sabha election and to also explore possibilities of tie-ups with other like-minded parties. He was also given powers to finalise seat-sharing arrangements with coalition partners in Bihar. A meeting between Mr. Prasad and Nawada jailbreak case convict Ashok Mahto on Wednesday too led to speculations of a possible candidature of the latter’s wife.
“In our party’s parliamentary board meeting, a one-line proposal was moved authorising party president Lalu Prasad Yadav to decide on selection of candidates, to explore possibilities of tie-ups with other like-minded parties, and to finalise seat sharing arrangement with coalition partners in the State,” RJD MLC and party’s national vice-president Abdul Bari Siddiqui told mediapersons after the meeting in Patna. Asked if there was any discussion on bringing disgruntled National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) of Pashupati Kumar Paras and Vikashil Insaan Party (VIP) of Mukesh Sahni into the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan fold, Mr. Siddiqui curtly replied, “No discussion took place”.
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In less than a month, the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar which would go to poll in the first phase on April 19 are Aurangabad, Nawada, Gaya and Jamui. Among the NDA alliance partners, BJP has announced that it would contest on Aurangabad and Nawada, while ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) would contest from Jamui (reserved) seat. Gaya has been given to another ally Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).
Late on Tuesday, heavyweight former MP and Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav had called on Mr. Prasad and his younger son Tejashwi Yadav apparently to seek their “approval” for his party’s merger with the Congress. Mr. Pappu Yadav’s JAP merged with the Congress on Wednesday in Delhi amid speculation that he would be fielded from Purnia parliamentary seat on Congress ticket as a Mahagathbandhan candidate. Mr. Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjit Ranjan is Rajya Sabha member from Congress party. Ms. Ranjan had earlier won the Lok Sabha election from Supaul constituency in Bihar as a Congress candidate.
Meanwhile, Nawada jailbreak convict Mr. Mahto, who in November 2023 had come out of jail after 17 years of imprisonment, met Mr. Prasad with his newly-wed wife Anita Kumari to seek his “blessings”. The buzz in political circles was that Mr. Mahto’s wife could contest from Munger parliamentary constituency on RJD ticket. Former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh is sitting MP from Munger and in all likelihood would recontest from the seat.
Mr. Mahto, 55, had hurriedly married Ms. Kumari, 46, on March 19 in the period believed to be inauspicious (Kharwas) at a temple in Patna district. Mr. Mahto has been a dreaded gang lord of Nawada-Sheikhpura region in 1900s and early 2000s and had faced several criminal charges, including murder and the jailbreak. He was given life imprisonment in the Nawada jailbreak case and walked out after serving his sentence in November 2023.
As rules prohibit convicts jailed for over two years from contesting elections until six years after release, the buzz in the State’s political circles is that he would field his newly-wed wife against likely JD(U) candidate Mr. Lalan Singh.
Earlier in 2011, another strongman from Siwan, Ajay Singh too had similarly married Kavita Singh to contest the Assembly byelection from Daraunda constituency after his legislator mother Jagmato Devi had died. In 2019, Ms. Kavita Singh won the Lok Sabha election and is currently the JD(U) MP from Siwan.
