Serious differences emerge within RJD in election year

NEW DELHI: RJD president Lalu Prasad may have coined the slogan –– ‘Do Hazar Bees Hatao Nitish’ (Oust Nitish in 2020) –– for the 2020 assembly elections, indicating that his target would be chief minister Nitish Kumar more than his party’s ally –– the BJP –– in the upcoming polls.
However, serious differences of opinion among his senior party leaders, could derail Lalu Yadav’s election planning.

Senior RJD leader and former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh wrote a letter on January 9 to Lalu, who is currently in Ranchi jail, in which he has lamented the party’s ‘lethargic’ approach towards elections and has requested Lalu to take action.

“The assembly elections is 250 to 300 days away and the party has not formed committees starting from the booth to national level. The party is facing several challenges,” Singh wrote in the letter. He urged Yadav to complete the organisational elections as soon as possible.

“We had a state president on December 10. Since then, no further progress has been made regarding district and booth-level party organisation. How are we going to fight an election without an organisation set up?” Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told ET. Singh also said that the new state president Jagdanand Singh was ignoring party workers.

“We have a state president who has locked the gate of the party office and doesn’t meet workers. A lot of MLAs return every day without meeting him,” Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told ET. “We are the largest party of the state. Instead of taking all allies into confidence, Jagdanand Singh says that everyone is free to leave the alliance. Is that the way to topple Nitish Kumar?”

After the re-election of Lalu Prasad Yadav as national president on December 3 last year, the party had decided to ensure reservation for all categories in the selection of the party office-bearers and in the organisation. However, it is yet to take that decision forward.

Another senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari suggested that both Jagdanand and Raghuvansh should go and meet Lalu and settle things. “The intention of both the leaders is not bad. Raghuvansh ji is just worried because of the delay and I think both should meet Lalu ji and resolve it quickly,” Tiwari told ET. Meanwhile, RJD’s young face and leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav is likely to undertake a tour of the Seemanchal area comprising Katihar, Purnea, Araria and Kishanganj.

What is a source of trouble for the RJD in this region is the growing political influence of Asaduddin Owaisi-headed AIMIM. “Now, RJD’s main task is to go beyond its existing political equation of MY (Muslim-Yadav) in Bihar,” a source in RJD said. He added the party wants to woo not only the MBCs, but also SC voters. In such case, a delay in setting things right could cost the party heavily.