Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya begins LS poll campaign in Saran

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya has been fielded as a Grand Alliance candidate from Bihar’s Saran Lok Sabhah constituency

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya on Tuesday began her campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar’s Saran constituency, the seat she is contesting as a Grand Alliance (GA) nominee.

Rohini Acharya (middle) along with her father Lalu Prasad Yadav (right) and mother Rabri Devi (left) offers prayers at the Baba Hariharnath temple. (Image potsed by Rohini Acharya on X.)

Launching her campaign from Pahleza ghat in Sonepur, Acharya, who had donated one of her kidneys to her father for a transplant operation in December 2022, said, “I am overwhelmed with the love and blessings I am receiving from the people of Saran. The way electors here are treating me is unbelievable. It’s like a daughter has come to her home. I feel blessed. This (Saran) has been the ‘karmbhoomi’ of my father and now it is going to be mine.”

Saran will go to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20.

Earlier in the day, before leaving for Saran, Acharya, who is Lalu Prasad Yadav’s second daughter, told reporters in Patna, “I took blessings of Baba Harihanath yesterday. Now, I am going to meet my electors in Saran. You (media persons) should also bless me”.

Commenting on the RJD’s decision to field Acharya from Saran, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar state president and deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary said this is an example of “dynastic politics”.

“RJD supremo Lalu Prasad wants his family members in the electoral politics. This is called ‘dynastic politics’. He (Lalu) has so far brought his two sons and daughters into politics…now, let’s see when his other five daughters are brought into politics.”

Another deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha also took a jibe at Acharya, saying, “She now lives in Singapore and is now contesting elections from Saran. The people will decide whom to go with -the one who is committed to Bihar (BJP nominee Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Saran) or the one who is from Singapore”.

The BJP had on March 24 come out with a list of candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, dropping three sitting MPs, including Union minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey. The Grand Alliance in Bihar announced its seat-sharing arrangement last week, with 26 seats given to the RJD. The Congress will field its candidates in nine, while the Left parties have been allotted five seats.

Lok Sabha elections to the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1.