Credit: X and PTI File Photo
Patna: Even though the Mahagathbandhan has not yet formally announced the seat-sharing formula for the Bihar Assembly Election, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is allotting its symbol to its candidates, as October 17 is the last day to file the nominations for the first phase of the elections slated for November 6.
One such RJD nominee is Karishma Rai, the cousin of party leader Tejashwi Yadav’s elder brother Tej Pratap’s estranged wife Aishwarya Rai.
A dentist by profession, Karishma will be the RJD nominee for the Parsa seat in Saran district, from where her grandfather Daroga Prasad Rai became a Congress MLA for the first time in 1952 and later became Bihar Chief Minister in 1970.
Aishwarya’s father, Chandrika Rai, won from Parsa, the family stronghold, for the first time in 1985 as the Congress nominee and wrested the seat in consecutive elections in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2015 as the RJD candidate till he was defeated in 2020.
Incidentally, Chandrika’s relationship with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's family soured after Aishwarya filed a divorce case against Tej Pratap, besides a case of domestic violence against her mother-in-law, Rabri Devi, former Chief Minister.
Who is Karishma?
Karishma is the daughter of Chandrika Rai’s elder brother Vidhanchandra Rai. She is making her poll debut from the RJD stronghold at a time when Tej Pratap and Aishwarya’s marital dispute is going on in the court of law.
The relationship between Lalu Prasad and Chandrika Rai has also hit rock bottom. However, Tejashwi, an astute politician that he is, has extended an olive branch to the Rai family by giving the ticket to Karishma in the hope that ties between the two families would normalise and the Yadavs remain united with the RJD.
Notably, besides Lalu Prasad, Chandrika Rai’s family, too, wields considerable influence in the Yadav-dominated constituency of Parsa, which also saw Daroga Rai becoming the first Yadav Chief Minister of Bihar in the 1970s.
The olive branch extended to the Rai family suits them, as Lalu Prasad has already expelled his Tej Pratap from the party and his family for the latter’s misdemeanour. Tej Pratap, who has no more association with Tejashwi, is contesting from the Mahua seat in Vaishali as an Independent.
“Karishma will face Chhotelal Rai of the JD(U), who was earlier with the RJD but changed colours and joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party,” said Lalu Prasad’s key aide Bhola Yadav.