Rebels without a cause for celebration

Proving ineffective before the Nitish Kumar magic,the defectors could not make a mark in the Assembly elections whose results were announced on Wednesday. While JDU rebel MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh failed to help the Congress win any seat in upper caste-dominated regions of Lakhisarai,Shekhpura and Barbigha,former MP Prabhunath Singh,who switched over to the RJD,could not help the RJD get more than two seats in Saran and Siwan. RJD rebels Akhilesh Singh,Nagmani,Sadhu Yadav and rebel RJD MP Umashankar Singh also failed miserably. Forget helping the Congress get some seats,Nagmani could not even win from Morwa. The Congress had given 75 tickets to supporters and relatives of defectors. Nagmani,a self-proclaimed Kushwaha leader,had claimed that whichever party he joined would form the government. RJD chief Lalu Prasads brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav,who had joined the Congress before the last Lok Sabha polls,also lost from Gopalganj. Ranjeet Ranjan,the former LJP MP who had switched sides to the Congress before the last Lok Sabha polls,also failed to make any impression in Kosi region despite all the hype about being the new poster woman of the Congress in Bihar. RJD rebel MP Umashankar Singh,who had helped the Congress after his arch rival Prabhunath Singh joined the RJD,could not galvanise fellow Rajput support for Congress in Saran and Siwan. Prabhunath who had coined a new slogan of PMRY Pichda,Muslim,Rajput and Yadav for Lalu also had a limited influence. There were clear hints of upper caste consolidation in NDAs favour. It was a clean sweep for the NDA on 15 seats of Siwan and Gopalganj. RJD MP Jagdanand Singh,however,could take some solace from teaching a lesson to his rebel son Sudharkar Singh,who contested unsuccessfully from Ramgarh against the RJDs Ambika Yadav.