Now trouble in RJD-Congress picture, starring Pappu Yadav, Kanhaiya Kumar

The RJD on Thursday announced candidates for Aurangabad (Abhay Kushwaha), Nawada (Shravan Kushwaha), Gaya (Kumar Sarvajeet), and Jamui (Archana Ravidas). While the Congress had been asking for Aurangabad for former MP Nikhil Kumar, it was also expecting Begusarai for All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) NSUI in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar, who was the runner-up in the seat five years ago as a CPI nominee. This time, former MLA Awadhesh Rai of the CPI will contest from Begusarai.

At least three senior Congress leaders, including Nikhil Kumar, expressed dissatisfaction with the RJD for “not adhering to coalition dharma”. Kumar, 82, said if the Congress’s alliance with the RJD “fell apart” it would be a great loss for “regional parties”.

“Coalition dharma is being violated. Tickets are being distributed by (by the RJD) without finalising seat-sharing with alliance partners,” said Kumar, a former Delhi Police commissioner and ex-governor of Nagaland.

Kumar’s family has deep ties with the constituency. His father and former CM Satyendra Narayan Sinha represented the constituency from 1971 to 1984 while his wife Shyama was the Aurangabad MP from 1999 to 2004. The senior Congress leader also took a dig at RJD candidate Abhay Kushwaha, labelling him an “outsider” and accusing RJD of “not keeping the winnability factor in mind”.

Former Katihar MP Tariq Anwar also expressed dissatisfaction with the RJD’s “unilateral seat-sharing”. “The way RJD chief Lalu Prasad has been distributing party symbols is not a good sign for the alliance. This is against coalition ethics. This is not the way our alliance should function,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Anil Sharma has also taken on the RJD chief over the “unilateral seat-sharing decision” for first-phase seats. Sharma earlier objected to current BPCC chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh’s decision to invite Lalu Prasad to the state Congress’s office in Patna.

Another decision of the RJD that is said to have rubbed the Congress the wrong way is to allocate Begusarai to the CPI. CPI general secretary D Raja who recently met Lalu Prasad and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has announced Awadhesh Rai’s candidature from the seat.

“We have allotted party symbols to only those seats that we have been contesting traditionally. As for Aurangabad, it was Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) in 2019. The top leaders of the alliance have been discussing seat-sharing and we will soon announce it,” said RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta.

The RJD, meanwhile, is not happy with the Congress for bringing in Pappu Yadav, according to a senior leader of the grand old party in the state. A five-time MP, Pappu Yadav merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with the Congress on Wednesday. He is the husband of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan and is known for wielding influence in the Seemanchal and Kosi regions of Bihar. In 2015, the RJD expelled him after he kept on targeting Lalu Prasad over the question of succession in the party.

Lalu’s daughter to contest

Meanwhile, RJD has said Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Saran. This triggered a war of words with the BJP after Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who is also the state BJP president, alleged that the RJD chief gave his daughter the ticket “in lieu of the kidney” she had given him in 2022.

“Lalu Prasad has been a master in the art of selling tickets. He has not spared even his daughter. He took her kidney and gave her ticket to her in lieu of it,” he said on Thursday.

In response, Rohini posted on X, “I am Lalu ji’s daughter. I will respond to one with petty thinking and petty character among people in people’s court. It is people who will decide what is right and what is wrong.” In a post on Friday, she wrote, “Giving one kidney to my father is my duty and my love for him. Rohini is ready to sacrifice her life for her family and the land of her birth, Bihar.”