Like Sonia and Rahul, Rabri, son to take over RJD reins

New Delhi: With Lalu Prasad in jail after his conviction in the multi-crore fodder scam case, his wife Rabri Devi on Monday said she and her son will run the RJD “as Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are guiding the Congress”. Asked about impact of the court order on the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s future, Rabri, who has had three stints as chief minister of Bihar, said she and her son would run the party in the absence of Lalu Prasad “as he had created the party and nourished it”. Rabri (54) has two sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi Yadav, who had accompanied Lalu Prasad to Ranchi for the crucial court proceeding on Monday and is being looked upon as the heir apparent. Rabri Devi had been pushed into the forefront of Bihar politics in 1997 when she became the chief minister of the state, having been chosen by Prasad to replace him after he relinquished the post in the wake of the fodder scam. She had served as CM again from 1999 for about a year and then again from 2000-2005. A party spokesman said the RJD would decide the future role of Tejaswi and other leaders. Lalu conviction is Advantage BJP New Delhi: Already in churning since the JD(U) and BJP parted ways, Bihar will soon see greater political turbulence after RJD supremo Lalu Yadav was convicted in a slew of fodder scam cases and sent to jail. As the punishment, to be pronounced Thursday, is likely to be over three years, Yadav, once considered Bihar’s strongman, is set to lose his Lok Sabha membership. Political watchers say the BJP is likely to benefit, being the sole claimant of growing popular disenchantment with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) government. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had hoped to gain from the BJP-led NDA’s disintegration in the state, but with its leader in jail that looks unlikely. After Rahul Gandhi’s attack on the ordinance intended to save convicted MPs from disqualification, the Congress is not looking at the RJD as a possible ally, and is playing safe, with spokespersons saying the law had “taken its course” and that “they respect the judgment of courts”. There was much speculation earlier about it coming closer to the JD(U). “It’s too early to say what impact it will have on alliance in Bihar and Jharkhand. We cannot say anything on what will happen about alliance,” AICC communication department chief Ajay Maken said. Maken’s remarks are significant as there was intense speculation in the party about a future tie-up in Bihar with either Lalu Prasad’s RJD, or its arch-rival JD(U), which walked out NDA in Bihar on June 16 protesting over Narendra Modi’s elevation as BJP’s campaign committee chief. Under circumstance, political observers believe that in the absence of Lalu Prasad, there is a possibility of “extinction” of RJD from Bihar’s political spectrum. But many believe that it would be too early to conclude any thing now, as mother-son duo (Rabri Devi and Tejaswini Yadav) has taken charge of the party and most of the senior leaders have conceded to work under them. However, there is a bigger challenge of keeping the party’s support base intact. The Muslims and Yadavs constitute the primary vote banks of the party. Of the two, Yadavs are more loyal to Prasad, but in his absence chances are that they would veer towards the BJP. The latter has already started efforts at chipping away at the Yadav vote base. The community has scores to settle with Nitish Kumar and would not vote for a party that is not likely to make a major impact in the elections. The Narendra Modi factor could drive the Muslims to support Nitish. So in a way both the BJP and the JD(U) stand to gain from the split in the RJD’s support base.