<p>Former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, after being granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the fodder scam case, may be recuperating at AIIMS, New Delhi, but his release order has given a new lease of life to the RJD. It may take a few days before he is discharged from the hospital and flown to Patna after legal formalities and clearance from the doctors as the RJD chief has been suffering from multiple ailments.</p>.<p>His supporters in Bihar are, however, upbeat and jubilant, although they are not publicly displaying their enthusiasm in view of strict instructions from Tejashwi Yadav to avoid any celebrations due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/jharkhand-high-court-grants-bail-to-lalu-prasad-yadav-in-fodder-scam-case-975351.html" target="_blank">Jharkhand High Court grants bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav in fodder scam case</a></strong></p>.<p>There is, however, a stony silence in the NDA camp after Saturday’s Jharkhand High Court order which paved the way for Lalu to walk free after he was granted bail in the Dumka treasury case. Earlier, Lalu, who has been behind bars since December 2017, was granted bail in Deogarh and Chaibasa treasury cases after he completed half of the sentence.</p>.<p>If the NDA in Bihar is having sleepless nights, there is a genuine reason for the ruling alliance to be worried. The November 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, fought bitterly and fiercely, saw a nail-biting finish with Nitish camp romping home with a wafer-thin majority.</p>.<p>The BJP won 74 seats, while the JD (U) could scrape through in 43 seats (relatively one of its poorest performances since 2005). The two other allies HAM and VIP won four each. Together, these four NDA allies won 125 seats, three more than the magic figure of 122 in the 243-member Assembly.</p>.<p>That Nitish later managed to help the lone BSP MLA and the only LJP legislator join the JD (U) is a different story. But the results threw such a verdict that if eight to ten MLAs switch sides, then there will be an imminent fall of the government.</p>.<p>Interestingly, this was the first Assembly election in Bihar which was held in Lalu’s absence. Although credit should be given to his heir apparent and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who single-handedly helped RJD emerge as the single largest party with 75 seats despite Lalu, arguably the most popular leader in Bihar, not campaigning for his alliance.</p>.<p>“We had the mandate. But Nitish became CM through ‘chor darwaja’ (back door entry),” Tejashwi has often taken a dig at Nitish blaming him and his officials for manipulating the poll result in around 10 constituencies where the winner scraped through by few hundred votes.</p>.<p>Now that Lalu will be back in Bihar within a week, all eyes will be on the maverick politician, who could turn the tables and help his son don the mantle of Bihar as Tejashwi had missed the bus in November 2020 narrowly.</p>.<p>“The countdown for fall of the NDA Government has begun,” remarked Lalu’s elder son and RJD MLA, Tej Pratap.</p>
<p>Former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, after being granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the fodder scam case, may be recuperating at AIIMS, New Delhi, but his release order has given a new lease of life to the RJD. It may take a few days before he is discharged from the hospital and flown to Patna after legal formalities and clearance from the doctors as the RJD chief has been suffering from multiple ailments.</p>.<p>His supporters in Bihar are, however, upbeat and jubilant, although they are not publicly displaying their enthusiasm in view of strict instructions from Tejashwi Yadav to avoid any celebrations due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/jharkhand-high-court-grants-bail-to-lalu-prasad-yadav-in-fodder-scam-case-975351.html" target="_blank">Jharkhand High Court grants bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav in fodder scam case</a></strong></p>.<p>There is, however, a stony silence in the NDA camp after Saturday’s Jharkhand High Court order which paved the way for Lalu to walk free after he was granted bail in the Dumka treasury case. Earlier, Lalu, who has been behind bars since December 2017, was granted bail in Deogarh and Chaibasa treasury cases after he completed half of the sentence.</p>.<p>If the NDA in Bihar is having sleepless nights, there is a genuine reason for the ruling alliance to be worried. The November 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, fought bitterly and fiercely, saw a nail-biting finish with Nitish camp romping home with a wafer-thin majority.</p>.<p>The BJP won 74 seats, while the JD (U) could scrape through in 43 seats (relatively one of its poorest performances since 2005). The two other allies HAM and VIP won four each. Together, these four NDA allies won 125 seats, three more than the magic figure of 122 in the 243-member Assembly.</p>.<p>That Nitish later managed to help the lone BSP MLA and the only LJP legislator join the JD (U) is a different story. But the results threw such a verdict that if eight to ten MLAs switch sides, then there will be an imminent fall of the government.</p>.<p>Interestingly, this was the first Assembly election in Bihar which was held in Lalu’s absence. Although credit should be given to his heir apparent and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who single-handedly helped RJD emerge as the single largest party with 75 seats despite Lalu, arguably the most popular leader in Bihar, not campaigning for his alliance.</p>.<p>“We had the mandate. But Nitish became CM through ‘chor darwaja’ (back door entry),” Tejashwi has often taken a dig at Nitish blaming him and his officials for manipulating the poll result in around 10 constituencies where the winner scraped through by few hundred votes.</p>.<p>Now that Lalu will be back in Bihar within a week, all eyes will be on the maverick politician, who could turn the tables and help his son don the mantle of Bihar as Tejashwi had missed the bus in November 2020 narrowly.</p>.<p>“The countdown for fall of the NDA Government has begun,” remarked Lalu’s elder son and RJD MLA, Tej Pratap.</p>
