Supporters miss RJD supremo, as party seeks to wrest its bastion

Since RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav is unable to campaign during this Lok Sabha elections, he is being missed among his supporters. This is the first election when his party is campaigning without him.

Saran: Lalu Prasad Yadav might be missing from the electioneering, but for RJD supporters this veteran politician still remains the "biggest leader", whose party faces an uphill task of reclaiming the bastion it lost to the BJP last election.

"Lalu Prasad is the biggest leader of Bihar. He has been jailed on false charges," Nagendra Rai (52), a farmer in Sonepur village, said.

The RJD chief, who is imprisoned in fodder scam cases, could not campaign as his bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court. For the RJD, this the first election without its star campaigner, whose younger son Tejashwi Yadav is trying his best to keep the morale of his partymen up.

Comprising six assembly segments, the seat, known as Chapra before the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in 2008, was won by Prasad four times --1977, 1989, 2004 and 2009.

However, the RJD lost Saran in 2014 after BJP candidate and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy defeated RJD supremo's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi in 2014.

To redeem its lost glory, the RJD has this time fielded six-time MLA Chandrika Rai, who is the father of Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's estranged wife Aishwarya Rai.

"Rai will give a tough fight to BJP candidate Rudy," G Kumar, an English professor at the Jai Prakash University, said. He claimed that caste factor will also play a major role in Saran.

"Muslims, Yadavs and a section of Dalits are likely to vote for the mahagatbhandan candidate Rai.While extremely backward caste (EBCs), excluding Yadavs, and upper castes are strongly behind BJP-led NDA candidate Rudy," Kumar claimed.

In Pahleja Ghat, 50-year-old tea-seller, said,"Tejashwi is a capable leader, but if Prasad would have been here, the morale and spirit of RJD workers and supporters would have been very high."

Some voters in the constituency feel that votes will go for the BJP in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One of the 40 constituencies in Bihar, Saran, as of 2014, has 1,538,744 registered voters. The constituency has assembly segments Marhaura, Chapra, Garkha, Amnour, Parsa and Sonepur and goes to polls in the fifth phase of the general elections on Monday.