Rohini vs Rudy: How the contest in Bihar's Saran may come down to Lalu Prasad’s legacy

While Rudy is relying on the work done in the region through infrastructure and industrial development, Rohini claims that Rudy has done nothing while she has proved to be an ideal daughter.

The electoral contest in Bihar’s Saran, a symbolically-significant Lok Sabha constituency, has intensified. As Rohini Acharya- daughter of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav leads her maiden Lok Sabha campaign against sitting BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Lalu Yadav’s involvement in leading the campaign trail cannot be missed. He has visited Saran twice in the past 12 days, braving the heat and multiple ailments.

With his involvement, Lalu has sent a clear message to voters that his stakes are high in Saran, the only seat where has campaigned so far. Saran goes to polls on May 20. While Rudy is relying on the work done in the region through infrastructure and industrial development, Rohini claims that Rudy has done nothing while she has proved to be an ideal daughter.

Lalu takes centre stage in Saran

On April 17, for the first time, the former Bihar chief minister joined the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, for his daughter Rohini Acharya.

Rudy reportedly asserted that his primary opponent is RJD chief Lalu Prasad, with Rohini Acharya merely serving as a "mask". "Lalu Prasad Yadav cannot contest the election... Hence, he is using Rohini Acharya as a mask," Rudy stated.

Rohini Acharya’s electoral foray

Rohini became the fourth of Lalu and Rabri’s nine children to have jumped into the electoral politics. While her elder sister Misa is a Rajya Sabha MP, her brothers Tejashwi and Tej Pratap have been MLAs since 2015. Extended members of the family including Lalu’s brothers-in-law Sadhu Yadav and Subhash Yadav have also served as MPs.

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.

With Yadavs and Rajputs supporting their castemen in polls, both Rabri and Rudy are eyeing support of other upper castes, particularly sizeable landed Bhumihar, extreme backward castes (EBCs), Mahadalits and Muslims.

After RJD candidate Rohini Acharya filed her nomination for the Saran Lok Sabha seat in Bihar on Monday, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the sitting MP who has been renominated by the BJP, accused her father and RJD chief Lalu Yadav of killing developmental schemes in Saran to please the people of a particular community.

Also Read: Bihar Lok Sabha election 2024: Congress - Past performance, key issues, challenges and more

Saran: An old RJD bastion

Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, both Saran and Pataliputra were once seen as bastions of the RJD. Saran, for instance, elected Lalu to the Lok Sabha in 2009, but slipped out of the RJD’s reach in 2014 and 2019. The party fielded Rabri Devi from this seat in 2014 and Chandrika Rai, estranged father-in-law of Lalu and Rabri’s eldest son Tej Pratap, in 2019.

The battle for Saran

Addressing a public meeting in Saran on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh alleged that that Congress and RJD wants to bring back lantern era in Bihar. Singh said Congress is trying to eyewash people on the name of reservation, religion and constitution. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is dedicated to the development of the country. The senior BJP leader said Prime Minister Modi in his third term will lead the country to the world’s third largest economy by 2027.

RJD chief's namesake 'Laloo Prasad Yadav' in the poll fray

Rohini Acharya's bid to reclaim the Saran Lok Sabha seat, once represented by the socialist leader, for the party is being challenged by a namesake of her father.

Contestant Laloo Prasad Yadav, a local farmer from Bihar's Saran district, the 'karmabhoomi' of his famous namesake, has a penchant for contesting elections. This time, he filed his nomination papers as a candidate of the Rashtriya Jansambhavna Party (RJP) for Saran Lok Sabha seat on April 26.