Lalu Yadav delivers unity message in Belaganj that voted RJD for 3 decades
Vishwanath Yadav is the son of eight-time legislator Surendra Prasad Yadav who has represented Belagnj seat in the Bihar assembly since 1990
PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday asked the party’s supporters in southwestern Bihar’s Belaganj assembly constituency to stay united to keep out the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (United).
“If Hindus and Muslims stay united, the likes of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar can be shown their places. We have to uproot them like we uproot radish. We have to send them across seven seas. Just press the lantern button on the electronic voting machine,” Yadav said, campaigning for the party candidate Vishwanath Yadav.
Vishwanath is the son of eight-time legislator Surendra Prasad Yadav who has represented the seat in the Bihar assembly since 1990 (as Janata Dal MLA in 1990 and 1995) except for a brief period in 1998 when he resigned as legislator after winning the Jahanabad Lok Sabha seat.
The RJD is sparing no effort this time too. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has already campaigned for Vishwanath Yadav and has also deployed Hina Shahab, wife of late Md Shahabuddin, and their son, Osama for the bypoll.
The Belaganj bypoll was necessitated because Surendra Prasad again vacated the seat following his election to the Lok Sabha from Jahanabad earlier this year. It is one of the four seats going to the polls. Two of them including Belaganj were with the RJD while a third seat was with the Communist Party of India (ML). The fourth seat was with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituent Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).
In Belaganj, Surendra Yadav’s son Vishwanath Yadav is pitted against Janata Dal United’s former MLC Manorama Yadav, wife of late don Bindi Yadav. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party has fielded Mohammad Azad, a former panchayat head who had unsuccessfully contested the election in 2005 and 2010.
Lalu Yadav, who has been unwell, has campaigned only on a small number of assembly seats. Speaking to a large crowd that had come to see him, Lalu Yadav spoke in his characteristic style in the local dialect, appealing to the electorate to stay united. This is the only seat being contested by the ruling JD-U.
Prasad said that the Muslims and Yadavs have always been together in Belaganj to reject the communal politics of the BJP and its alliance. “Nobody can diminish our strength. We have seen a lot of people becoming PMs and CMs. We also saw Nitish Kumar. Not caring about my illness, I came to meet you all. Now is the time to back the young RJD candidate to keep our strength intact,” he said.