Rajniti Prasad had his moment of glory on Thursday night in the Rajya Sabha when he snatched the lokpal bill from Union minister V Narainswamy's desk and tore it up, full view of the nation. But for this surge of bravado, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) member's term in the Upper House, which will end in April next year, might have gone unnoticed.
Throughout 2011, the 55-year-old did not participate in any debate; did not introduce any bill and earned four special mentions, records on the Rajya Sabha website.

Columns against the member's profession and educational qualifications remain blank, although Prasad is understood to be a lawyer.

Prasad's claim to fame is said to be that he stood by the RJD chief at his most vulnerable phase when he was being dogged by court cases in the fodder scam.

"Rajniti would keep tabs on court developments in the fodder cases and would invariably be the first to inform the RJD President. At times he may even have passed on critical information," old timers say.

For his blind loyalty, Lalu is reported to have rewarded Rajniti with a Rajya Sabha seat.

Rajniti is known rather as a simpleton and is often seen walking down to Parliament House.

Over the past years, he has never been sighted even in his party office on the third floor of Parliament House and has not come across as being interested in interacting with the media or improving his networking skills.

His stellar performance on Thursday may hardly have been aimed at wangling a second term in the Rajya Sabha. Lalu no longer has the numbers to grant him another term, in any case, Rajniti does not appear to be that worldly-wise.