THE RJD seeks to break the jinx in Bihar’s Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency, covering rural areas around the State capital, which the party’s proverbial first family has been failing to win since the seat’s inception. The constituency came into being after delimitation of 2008 and in Lok Sabha polls a year later, RJD’s founding president Lalu Prasad chose to enter the fray himself, only to suffer a shocking defeat at the hands of Ranjan Yadav, a former close aide who had revolted and contested as a candidate of JD(U) headed by arch rival and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Yadav could not retain the seat five years later when it was the turn of yet another aide-turned-adversary Ram Kripal Yadav to inflict a defeat on the family of the RJD supremo.

 

Ram Kripal Yadav joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and rode the “Modi wave” to beat Misa Bharti, the eldest daughter of Prasad, who was making her debut. Bharti made another attempt to win the seat for her father’s party in 2019, but Ram Kripal Yadav romped home, riding the strong wave of nationalism that had swept the state in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The family seems to have hardened its resolve following the three successive defeats, all with margins of about 40,000 votes or less. Bharti, despite enjoying a second consecutive term in the Rajya Sabha, is out in the heat and dust of a direct election, like the fabled King Bruce who drew inspiration from a spider. Ram Kripal Yadav, confident of a hat-trick, says “I am a son of the soil. Every voter will vouch for the fact that I am always available for them in their hour of need. Add to this the popularity of the Modi Government at the Centre and performance of the NDA in the state. Draw a contrast with the rivals whose candidate is seen only at the time of polls”.