Patna: Hypothesis is rife in Bihar’s political circles about the potential for a sixth member of the Lalu Prasad Yadav-Rabri Devi clan leaping into the electoral fray. Rohini Acharya, the facility couple’s second eldest daughter, is more likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Saran — a seat represented by her father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav from 2009 till 2014 and Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) since.
The excitement round Rohini’s political debut was set off by a Fb put up by RJD MLC Sunil Kumar Singh. Seen as an in depth confidant of the household, Singh in his put up demanded a ticket for Rohini to contest the elections. “I have reflected the strong sentiments of RJD workers in Saran. No other candidate will be acceptable to the workers,” he wrote, praising Rohini.
Requested about Rohini’s doubtless candidature, one other confidant of the household advised ThePrint that he was not involved with ticket distribution, “but I do not rule it out”.
Reacting to Singh’s put up, Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary whipped up an argument Friday together with his assertion suggesting that Rohini Acharya might get a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a result of she donated a kidney to her father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. “Lalu ji gives tickets only after receiving donations and did not spare even his daughter,” he was quoted as saying by varied media retailers.
As for Rohini’s doubtless candidature, one might additionally argue that her entry into politics was heralded by none aside from her father and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on the Jan Vishwas Rally held at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on 3 March and addressed by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and different opposition leaders. Whereas Rohini didn’t handle the general public assembly, Lalu sought blessings for her from the group, telling them, “She is my second daughter who has given me a second life by donating her kidney.”
“During the last two days, there has been a flow of Saran MLAs, mukhiyas (village heads) and other leaders from the Lok Sabha to 10, Circular Road (Lalu Prasad Yadav’s residence), all of them demanding that Rohini Acharya be made the RJD candidate from the Lok Sabha seat. But until the list of candidates is officially declared I will not be able either to confirm or deny the news,” stated RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav.
Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, each Saran and Pataliputra had been as soon as seen as bastions of the RJD. Saran, for example, elected Lalu to the Lok Sabha in 2009, however slipped out of the RJD’s attain in 2014 and 2019. The celebration fielded Rabri Devi from this seat in 2014 and Chandrika Rai, estranged father-in-law of Lalu and Rabri’s eldest son Tej Pratap, in 2019.
Pataliputra, in the meantime, is the seat Lalu Prasad Yadav unsuccessfully contested in 2009 and his daughter Misa Bharti in 2014 and 2019. Sources within the RJD advised ThePrint that Lalu Thursday made it clear to 2 RJD MLAs — Bhai Virendra and Ritlal Yadav — that his eldest daughter Misa Bharti would contest the Pataliputra seat a 3rd time.
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Rohini Acharya vs Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran?
The second eldest daughter of the RJD first household, Rohini makes use of the surname Acharya as a mark of respect for one Dr Kamala Acharya who oversaw her beginning. Like her elder sister Misa Bharti, Rohini too is a health care provider. She is married to Samresh Singh, a Singapore-based pc engineer who’s now a enterprise proprietor.
Although Rohini has not contested an election as of but, she has been lively on social media the place she has occasionally defended her father and criticised his political adversaries. After CM Nitish Kumar ditched the RJD to return to the BJP-led NDA in January this 12 months, Rohini wrote in a put up on X with out taking any names, “Garbage goes back into the dustbin.”
Even when Nitish’s Janta Dal (United) was a part of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan and the INDIA bloc, Rohini had criticised the chief minister for his assault on dynastic politics in a put up on X which she later deleted, solely after it had already stirred an argument.
If she does safe a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Saran, Rohini Acharya can be up towards the sitting MP from this seat Rajiv Pratap Rudy. “At the end of the day, they (Lalu and Rabri’s children) are not politicians, There is an effort to play the emotional card; they have done it before,” Rudy advised ThePrint when requested to touch upon the potential for Rohini Acharya difficult his declare to the Saran parliamentary seat.
The combat in Saran, say political analysts, has at all times been a combat between Yadavs and Rajputs who’re about the identical in numbers in that seat.
If the RJD fields her, Rohini will turn out to be the fourth of Lalu and Rabri’s 9 youngsters to have jumped into the electoral fray. Whereas her elder sister Misa is a Rajya Sabha MP, her brothers Tejashwi and Tej Pratap have been MLAs since 2015. Prolonged family members together with Lalu’s brothers-in-law Sadhu Yadav and Subhash Yadav have additionally served as MPs.
Requested if this lends forex to criticism of the RJD for being a family-run celebration, celebration chief Sunil Kumar Singh advised ThePrint, “Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is son of leader Shakuni Choudhary, Even the father of Vijay Kumar Sinha, the other deputy CM, was an MLA. How can we be held guilty for enforcing dynasty rule when everybody is elected by the people?”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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