Misa Bharti's Tough Battle: Can the Yadav Clan Secure Patliputra In Its Fourth Attempt? (image-X/MisaBharti)
Bihar’s Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency came into existence in 2009, and since then, former chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family have failed to secure the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat.
In the 2009 elections, Lalu contested from both Saran and Patliputra. Although he won from Saran, he lost the Patliputra seat to Janata Dal (United) candidate and former ally Ranjan Prasad Yadav.
In their second attempt to wrest the seat, Lalu’s eldest daughter, Misa Bharti, made her debut and contested the elections. Once again, it was another former ally, Ram Kripal Yadav, this time who inflicted another loss to the RJD supremo as part of the ‘Modi wave’. The BJP candidate won the seat with 3.8 lakh votes, bagging the seat, while Misa won 3.4 lakh votes. Not giving up, Misa, a Rajya Sabha MP, tried her luck once again in the 2019 elections. The rematch between the two yielded the same results: RJD had failed to win the seat again.
Following three successive defeats for the party and the political family with margins of less than 40,000 votes each time, the party will make its fourth attempt to win the elusive seat located in Patna district. Her opponent is none other than two-time MP Ram Kripal.
Why Has The Patliputra Seat Been Out Of Reach For The Yadav Clan?
One of the major reasons for its consistent losses is the clan itself. After Lalu declared the nomination of daughter Misa, expectant Ram Kripal quit the RJD and joined the saffron party. Despite losing twice, Misa has been nominated for the third time for the Patliputra seat, much to the dismay of other party leaders.
However. Misa’s nominations have not only disappointed party aspirants but also the locals, who complain that the Rajya Sabha MP only visits during elections and remains inaccessible. On the contrary, the people find Ram Kripal approachable, as he even attends every wedding he is invited to by the people in the region.
With Yadavs dominating the caste demographic in Patliputra (4 lakh), other castes have been observed to polarise against the party, especially when Lalu and her daughter Misa are in the race. Winning the seat becomes even more tough when a prominent Yadav leader is the opponent. Like in the 2009 elections, Ranjan Prasad Yadav, and Ram Kripal Yadav in the subsequent elections, the opponents are successfully able to divide a section of Yadav votes away from Lalu’s party.
Is There Any Hope For Misa And RJD This Time?
Perhaps the primary attack by the RJD against the ruling BJP MP is banking on anti-incumbency sentiments. PM Modi’s recent remarks on the INDIA alliance’s “plan to rob” Dalits and backward classes of their rights and accusing the opposition of “enslavement” and performing “mujra” for Muslims have reportedly not been well received by the Yadav population, as per The Print.
To bolster party support among the residents of Patliputra, which goes to polls on June 1, the entire Lalu clan – Lalu, wife Rabri Devi, daughter Rohini Acharya, and son Tejashwi Yadav – has stepped out for campaigning.
