The kin of Lalu Prasad on Wednesday said the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led combine would sweep Bihar and the RJD chief would halt the march of BJP's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi.
"The RJD-led alliance will win all 40 seats in Bihar," Rabri Devi, former chief minister and Prasad's wife, said. There was no Modi wave, only Lalu wave, she added after her Lok Sabha poll debut.
Rabri is the party candidate for Saran parliamentary constituency, where voting was held on Wednesday.
Lalu had won the seat in the last two elections in 2004 and 2009. But, the RJD leader was disqualified after being convicted in a multi-crore fodder scam in 2013.
Amid talks that the ruling Janata Dal (United) was on the back foot, Rabri said, "(Chief minister) Nitish Kumar is nowhere in the picture."
Exuding confidence about her win, she added, "It is the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the lantern (the party's election symbol) all the way. It is a no contest in Saran. I'll win by a larger margin than my husband."
In Saran, Rabri is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who had won this seat in 1996 and 1999 (when the constituency was known as Chapra).
In Saran, Rabri is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who had won this seat in 1996 and 1999 (when the constituency was known as Chapra).
Rudy, who is banking on a projected 'Modi wave' this time, had lost to Lalu in the previous two Lok Sabha elections.
Also in the fray is JD(U) nominee Salim Parvez, deputy chairman of the Bihar legislative council.
'My father will repeat the 1990 rathyatra halt'
Lalu's younger son Tejashwi Prasad said the RJD was surging ahead in Bihar.
He added the credit for stopping the election march of the Modi-led BJP would go to his father.
"My father stopped BJP leader LK Advaniji's (Somnath to Ayodhya) rathyatra at Samastipur in Bihar in 1990… he will halt the Modi bandwagon too."