Lalu’s love-hate relationship 

Old-timers claimed Lalu Prasad enjoyed a love-and-hate relationship with the JDU legislator, Anant Singh, despite the RJD chief claiming the credit for his arrest. 

Anant's elder brother Dilip Singh, a terror in the Mokama riverine area, was a minister in the erstwhile Rabri Devi government. Anant himself used to help the RJD candidates contesting against Nitish Kumar from the Barh parliamentary seat. “It was after Nitish wooed Anant by visiting him in Ladma village and getting himself measured in coins, Lalu's love turned into hatred. He started calling Anant all sorts of names. When Lalu sold off his horse at the Sonepur fair, the RJD chief was anguished over Anant purchasing it. Lalu even said his horse would lose its 'character' because Anant became its owner,” said a JDU leader. Goons-turned-politicians are use-and-throw material for politicians.

Dadan dilemma 

Former minister and MLA Dadan Yadav, popular as Dadan Pahalwan (this former school teacher was a wrestler), is reportedly in touch with the BJP leaders to be the party's candidate for the Dumraon Assembly seat in Buxar. But the BJP leaders are wary of this maverick politician, who first hogged headlines because a group of nautch (dance) girls followed him wherever he went to campaign. “One never knows what Dadan will do or say, leading to the embarrassment of the party. When he was a junior minister for commercial taxes, he attributed his newfound wealth to a dream. He claimed that a ghost told him where to dig the ground and find two pots of gold,” said a senior BJP leader, stressing that the party should be cautious on whom it takes on the board. 

Manjhi’s challenge

The state BJP leaders are irked over former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's refusal to do any business with state leaders, and his direct access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party's national president Amit Shah. But there is a silver lining. Most of the Manjhi's supporters want to contest the polls on the BJP's ticket. Manjhi might find a few sitting MLAs on his side if he insists on fielding his own MLAs,” said a senior BJP leader.

Ghosts of past

The ghosts of the past haunt most leaders before elections. LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan recently challenged Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad to air their views on the Emergency. Both Lalu and Nitish were part of the anti-Congress movement and were jailed during the Emergency in the 1970s. Nitish shot back, asking Paswan and the BJP what they had to say about the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. “It is ironical that Paswan left the NDA after 2002 on the pretext of Gujarat's communal violence and Nitish stayed on. Now, the past is catching up with both of them,” said an octogenarian Congress politician.