Saran | Rohini-Rudy contest boils down to Lalu’s legacy vs Modi magic

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, despite his failing health and the searing April heat, has visited Saran twice in the past 12 days, personally campaigning and even addressing an election rally.

The wily politician may not be in the fray this time, but he has made it clear that the Lok Sabha seat that once was his is very dear to him. After all, his second daughter, Rohini Acharya, who donated a kidney to save his life, is contesting the Saran seat, formerly Chapra, in the name of his legacy.

Lalu's karambhoomi

Lalu has sent a clear message to voters that his stakes are high in his “karambhoomi” ('land where one toils') Saran, the only seat where he has campaigned so far. He is yet to campaign in Patliputra, where his eldest daughter Misa Bharti is in the fray for the third time, having lost it twice earlier.

Saran has become a prestige issue for him and the RJD supremo has not tried to deny his special attachment to it.

Saran goes to polls on May 20, while Pataliputra will vote on June 1.

Father-daughter ties

Ending months of speculation, the RJD in April formally announced Rohini’s name from Saran, considered Lalu’s stronghold, to challenge the BJP’s incumbent MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a former Union minister who has won the seat consecutively in 2014 and 2019 and is eyeing a hattrick.

Also, just like Lalu, Rudy has the distinction of winning the Chapra/Saran seat four times, and if he wins the seat this time, it will be his fifth.

According to RJD leaders, Lalu is doing everything to ensure victory for Rohini, who donated a kidney to Lalu in 2022, saving his life. The 75-year-old political veteran has been busy behind closed doors, monitoring and directing the election campaign of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan from his residence. The Mahagathbandhan is an alliance of the RJD, Congress, CPI, CPIML (Liberation), and CPI(M).

“Laluji has not campaigned for any Mahagathbandhan candidate so far except for kicking off the election campaign for Rohini in Saran. He also met party leaders and workers there and addressed an election meeting in Saran,” said a local party leader.

Lalu all the way

The RJD’s star campaigner, Lalu’s younger son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, has addressed more than 70 election meetings so far. The demand for his presence at rallies has been high in Bihar this time. However, in Saran, it is Lalu who matters.

Sensing that, Lalu launched Rohini’s election campaign from Saran on April 17, on the auspicious occasion of Ramanavami. He again visited Saran on April 29, when Rohini filed her nomination papers, and addressed a large gathering of people amid heatwave-like conditions, seeking votes for his daughter.

“Laluji will visit Saran again to campaign for Rohiniji, and he may camp there for a day or two ahead of the polls on May 20,” senior RJD leader Shakti Yadav said.

Magic of Saran

For Lalu, Saran is special because it was here that he started his journey in electoral politics 47 years ago. The young Lalu, then all of 29, won his first Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from what was then Chapra.

The last time he won the seat was in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. He was declared ineligible for contesting polls following his conviction in the fodder scam in 2013, which also disqualified him as an MP.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Lalu fielded his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi from Saran, but she lost the contest in the Narendra Modi wave. In 2019, Lalu fielded his eldest son’s father-in-law Chandrika Rai, from Saran. Rai, a former minister, is son of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Rai, a native of Saran. However, he also lost the contest, too, as the NDA swept the polls in Bihar by winning 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats.

The incumbent MP, Rudy, stands apart from his peers in the Hindi heartland. The 62-year-old is an English-speaking, sophisticated politician, a commercial pilot who famously flew Rafale fighter jets at the Aero India in Bengaluru in 2017 and 2023.

He became an MLA for the first time in 1990 when he won an Assembly seat in Saran district, and became an MP for the first time in 1996 after winning the Saran seat.

On the other hand, Rohini, 44, has MBBS and MBA degrees, and lives in Singapore with her husband and three children. Her husband is the managing director of a Singapore-based investment bank.

Over the past few years, Rohini has been active on social media, defending her parents and her younger brother Tejashwi and countering Modi and the BJP, and now, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Rohini is known as a vocal critic of PM Modi.

Singapore to Saran

During her campaign in the presence of Lalu, Rohini recently told people — mostly rural — that she had left behind an easy and comfortable life in Singapore to work like a daughter of Saran, the land close to her father’s heart.

“I have donated a kidney to my father, but I can sacrifice my life for the people of Saran because I am getting so much love, affection, blessings and support. I will work to serve the people here,” said the greenhorn Rohini, who is contesting elections for the first time.

Needless to say, challenging Rudy will be an uphill task for Rohini and a real test of Lalu’s legacy. “Rohini’s success and failure in the Saran electoral battle is related to Lalu’s legacy. This is a real fight on the ground,” said political commentator DM Diwakar.

Rudy's pitch

Rudy, too, is aware of that. He has not missed mentioning in his speeches during public meetings that he, in the past 39 years, has defeated Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, and his samdhi Chandrika Rai from Saran with the blessings and overwhelming support of the people.

Rudy has even said during campaigns, both in rural and urban areas, that his “real fight” is with Lalu and not Rohini, as she is just a “mask”.

Portraying himself as the “representative of Modi” and playing up “Modi’s guarantees”, Rudy has been trying to cash in on the old perception of “jungle raj”, the 15-year rule of Lalu and Rabri in Bihar.

“Hawa-hawai” leader

However, this time, the task won’t be easy for Rudy, for there is resentment against him among the people of Saran, which is largely a rural seat.

The “Modi wave” cannot be felt this time, unlike the last two Lok Sabha polls. Without hesitation, people in Chapra town, the district headquarters of Saran, expressed their unhappiness with Rudy for his failure to fulfil the promises he made in the last two elections.

“Rudy is a high-flying (“hawa-hawai”) leader who visits us only during elections. It is impossible to meet him for any work. He failed to create job opportunities, and his promises of setting up industries were mere lip service,” said Sanjeev Kumar Kushwaha, a resident of Chapra town.

Harish Rai, a resident of Sonepur, a hub near the confluence of rivers Ganga and Gandak, known for hosting Asia’s largest cattle fair, agreed. “We have voted for him twice in the name of Modi. He did nothing and disappointed us. This time, we will vote for change,” Rai said.

Modi factor

However, there were also some who openly voiced their support for Rudy to strengthen the hands of Modi. “We will vote for Rudy once again. He deserves our support to give another chance to Modi to take the country forward,” said Jagdish Singh, a resident of Amnour block, Rudy’s hometown.

Going by the dominant mood among people, particularly in the rural belt, “rojgar, berojgari, menhgai, garibi, aur vikas” (employment, unemployment, price rise, poverty, and development) are the main issues in the elections, but in reality, “jaati” or caste remains a key deciding factor for support.

Both Rudy and Rohini are banking on the caste factor. Rudy is a Rajput, a powerful upper caste, while Rohini belongs to the Yadav caste, a powerful OBC. In Saran, Rajputs and Yadavs are the two dominant castes in politics and both have almost equal control socioeconomically. They have almost similar numbers in terms of population and are widely seen as traditional rivals.

Caste equations

The majority of the Yadavs are solidly behind Lalu, while most Rajputs will be supporting Rudy. With their respective caste clan solidly behind them, both Rohini and Rudy are wooing the other castes, particularly the sizeable landed upper-caste Bhumihars, the extreme backward castes (EBCs), the Dalits, and the Muslims.

Political observers said the support of Dalits, Muslims, EBCs, OBCs, Bhumihars, and Brahmins will play an important role this time. Bhumihars are also known for their rivalry with the Rajputs in Saran. Muslims, on the other hand, have nearly 2 lakh votes, and are likely to play an important role in deciding the poll outcome, as in the past. Muslims across Bihar are favouring the Opposition and they are likely to back Rohini, as they say only Lalu can stop BJP and Modi.

In the last two elections, the BJP had successfully made a dent in the Yadav votes, mainly young voters, by playing the hyper-nationalism and Modi cards. But this time, the hype is largely missing.