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Cracks appear in RJD’s M-Y base
The Mahagathbandhan's poor performance in Bihar elections reveals rifts in RJD's Muslim-Yadav base and internal family conflicts, raising leadership concerns.
PATNA: The performance of the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance -- 35 seats at a strike rate of 14.4% -- in the Bihar assembly elections was the result of many factors.
The most worrying for the largest constituent of the alliance, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (25 seats at a strike rate of 17.5%) is the emergence of cracks in its Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) base.
The RJD gave around 50 tickets to Yadavs, who account for around 14% of the population, and around 20 to Muslims, who account for 17% , in a bid to woo the two communities. But the alliance’s decision to declare that Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani would be a deputy chief minister if it came to power proved counter-productive. The party’s base, primarily from the fishing and boatmen community, accounts for a mere 2% of the state’s electorate.
At least in the Seemanchal region, Muslims reacted to this by moving to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) which won five seats.
Analysts believe that the Muslims are of the view that the RJD took their support for granted and that they preferred the AIMIM which vociferously opposed the Wakf Bill in Parliament and carried out a yatra in Muslim dominated areas before the polls.
But the RJD had problems closer home too. The projection of Tejashwi Yadav as chief ministerial candidate, did not appear to find support even within the family.
His brother Tej Pratap was expelled from the RJD and his sister, Rohini Acharya’s cryptic social media posts indicated that Yadav wasn’t an unanimous choice.
Patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav held only one road show, and Yadav’s other sister Misa, a member of Parliament, was missing from the action.
“There is an internal rift within the Yadav family, which may intensify after the poll debacle. Questions will be raised over Tejaswhi’s leadership ,” a GA leader said on condition of anonymity.
Tej Pratap lost the election and Tejashwi himself scraped through. Worse, HT’s analysis shows that for the first time, Yadavs will not be the single largest sub-caste in the assembly. Clearly, the hold of the RJD’s first family over its base is fraying.
Chittaranjan Gagan, a RJD spokesperson struck a brave note and said the party “ has full faith in the leadership of Tejashwi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad,” but the GA leader cited above said ”the days ahead will be tough for the family”.
