Mahagathbandhan on the verge of collapse in Bihar?

There is a strong discontent within Congress over the shabby treatment meted out to it by the RJD chief,

Of all the partners within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, or the Mahagathbandhan, as it is called in this part of the cow-belt, Lalu Prasad’s RJD is considered one of the most trust-worthy. This could soon be history if Lalu, apparently hit by the 'son-stroke', fails to amend his ways and give proper respect to the Congress.

If there is a strong discontent within the grand old party over the shabby treatment meted out to it by the RJD chief, there is a reason behind it. In the last couple of days, Lalu, in his capacity as the party president, has allotted tickets to several RJD candidates, even though a formal announcement of Mahagathbandhan nominees is yet to be made.

The first seed of discontent was sown for the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in Bihar where the former Congress MP Nikhil Kumar, who earlier was the Kerala Governor besides the Delhi Police Commissioner during his IPS days, was in the reckoning.

Lalu unilaterally announced a turncoat Abhay Kushwaha, who switched from the JD-U to the RJD a few days back, as his candidate from Aurangabad. This has left the IPS-turned-politician Nikhil, who is the son of former Bihar CM SN Sinha and has represented Aurangabad as a Congress MP from 2004 to 2009, fuming.

Another bone of contention has been the heavyweight politician Pappu Yadav. The five-term MP had recently joined the Congress, a party which has given a Rajya Sabha seat to his wife Ranjeet Ranjan. Pappu Yadav was all set to contest from Purnia, his bastion, from where he has won even as an Independent. But Lalu has reportedly asked him to contest from Madhepura as the RJD wants to contest from Purnia.

“Lalu ji asked me to join the RJD and contest from Madhepura. But I politely declined the offer and informed him that I was joining the Congress and would like to contest from Purnia,” Pappu Yadav said on Sunday. His reaction came after the RJD made a JD-U MLA Bima Bharti resign from the Nitish’s outfit and join Lalu’s party, which, in turn, would possibly field her from Purnia.

In the process, Lalu is reportedly not willing to even spare the Katihar seat for the Congress veteran Tariq Anwar, who has earlier represented it for five times in the last four decades.

HIT BY SON-STROKE

Yet another bone of contention is Kanhaiya Kumar, who was all tipped to be the Congress candidate from Begusarai against Union minister Giriraj Singh. But apparently, without taking Congress into confidence, Lalu allowed CPI leader D Raja to unilaterally announce the name of Awadhesh Rai as the CPI nominee who would also be the Mahagathbandhan candidate in Begusarai. This sealed Kanhaiya’s fate. 

"We all know Lalu ji has never liked Kanhaiya. In fact, ever since Kanhaiya joined the Congress from the CPI in 2021, Lalu has been apprehensive that this fiery leader could overshadow his heir apparent, Tejashwi Yadav, as Kanhaiya has been a great orator, argues logically and is popular among youths. In fact, the day he gave his first speech at the Congress headquarters here in Patna, everyone was spellbound,” averred a Congress legislator.

“Kanhaiya is one leader who could infuse a new lease of life into the Congress which has been virtually ‘captured’ by the RJD. This is precisely why Kanhaiya got the Lalu boot. But in the process, Lalu has harmed the Congress immensely by denying winnable seats and giving hopeless ones in the name of alliance,” lamented the Congress leader, citing Tariq Anwar’s subtle threat that “if asked to bend too much (read: raw deal by Lalu), the alliance with the RJD may break too.”

(The writer is a Patna-based journalist)