Misa Bharti’s non-inclusion among star campaigners raises eyebrows
There are speculations that Misa, contesting the Patliputra parliamentary seat as an RJD nominee, could not find a place in the list of star campaigners owing to opposition from one section of RJD leaders, who are annoyed with RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s eldest daughter for being adamant about contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Even as Rashtriya Janata Dal has announced its star campaigners for the Lok Sabha polls, naming former chief minister Rabri Devi and Bihar scion Tejashwi Prasad Yadav prominently, the omission of the name of Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti from the list has raised many eyebrows.
There are speculations that Misa, contesting the Patliputra parliamentary seat as an RJD nominee, could not find a place in the list of star campaigners owing to opposition from one section of RJD leaders, who are annoyed with RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s eldest daughter for being adamant about contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
The party’s senior MLA Bhai Virendra was keen on getting a ticket from the Patliputra seat, the constituency where Lalu himself had unsuccessfully contested in 2009, but faced resistance from Misa and her elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav. In fact, Tej Pratap had spoken out against Bhai Virendra for wanting to contest from Patliputra, which had angered the party’s Maner MLA.
Though Bhai Virendra continues to sulk, he has apparently given up his claim on the Patliputra seat owing to pressure from the RJD chief and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is now second-in-command in the party after Lalu.
“Making Misa a star campaigner would have escalated the tension within the party’s rank and file, who are a bit annoyed at the choice of Misa for the Patliputra seat,” said a senior leader, wishing not to be quoted.
On her part, Misa claimed that she herself had refused to give her name as a star campaigner, owing to her preoccupation with electioneering in her own constituency, which goes to polls in the seventh phase on May 19. “I myself did not give my name [as a] star campaigner. A senior leader like Jagdanand Singh, too, has not given his name [as a] star campaigner since his own constituency would go to polls in the seventh phase,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tej Pratap Yadav and senior RJD leaders such as Raghuvnash Prasad Singh, Ram Chandra Purbe, MA Fatmi, Shivanand Tiwary, Manoj Jha, Jay Prakash Yadav , Kanti Singh, and Magni Lal Mandal figure prominently in the list. Forty names are there in the list of star campaigners, as permitted by the Election Commission.