BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy Wins Fourth Rematch In Sara, Narrowly Defeats RJD's Rohini Acharya (image-X/RajivPratapRudy)

In the fourth rematch with a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s clan for the Saran parliamentarian seat in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy has once again maintained his winning streak. Rudy secured the Saran Lok Sabha seat with 4,71,752 votes, defeating Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya by a slender margin of 13,661 votes.

Four-time MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy first faced political stalwart Lalu Prasad himself in the race to win the Saran (formerly known as Chapra) Lok Sabha seat in 2009. However, the people chose RJD over the saffron party. In 2014, Rudy’s opponent was Lalu Prasad’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi, who lost the seat by a margin of 40,000 votes.

In the 2019 election, Rudy again defeated RJD’s Chandrika Roy, the father-in-law of Lalu’s son, Tej Pratap Yadav. With a substantial margin of 1.38 lakh votes, the active airline pilot won a second term.

Making her electoral debut, RJD’s Rohini Acharya, who made headlines for donating her kidney to an ailing father, was based in Singapore before she moved here recently. Throughout the election, she was supported by notable political figures from her family – Tejashwi, Lalu Prasad, and Rabri Devi – who had been canvassing the grounds. Rohini has been known for her sharp criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling government, as well as the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar.

Rohini’s sister, Misa Bharti, on the other hand secured victory for the first time in Patliputra in a major victory for the RJD and brother Tejashwi Yadav.

Out of the 18 lakh voters in Saran, there are 3.5 lakh Yadavs and 3.25 lakh Rajput voters, followed by about two lakh Muslims and 1 lakh Bania and Kushwaha (Other Backward Classes) each.