Patna, Aug. 3: The changing equation in politics before the Assembly polls was visible on the opening day of the monsoon session of the Assembly and Council.
Rebel JDU MLAs and those who have affiliation to former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi remained mute spectators in the Assembly as RJD and JDU MLAs raised slogans in favour of the grand alliance to counter the BJP benches were raising slogans in favour of the NDA before the House began its ritual of paying tributes to the departed souls.
The high-voltage drama was, however, witnessed in the Council were 23 newly elected members took oath. History-sheeter-turned-politician and newly elected MLC from Patna Ritlal Rai, also known as Ritlal Yadav, after taking oath stunned politicians by ignoring former chief minister Rabri Devi and touching the feet of former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and BJP MLC Kiran Ghai.
Ritlal did not even bother to give a glance at Rabri's chair in the council. The Independent MLC, whose name spells terror in the riverine belt of Patna, has long been associated with Lalu Prasad.
Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls after Ram Kripal Yadav switched sides and was fielded as BJP candidate from Pataliputra parliamentary seat, RJD chief Lalu Prasad had visited the residence of Ritlal and made him the general secretary of the party despite the MLC being in jail.
Lalu might have forced himself to make such a gesture because of Ritlal's clout in the reverine area of Danapur, where he comes as a close second even contesting as an Independent. Lalu had thought it would help his daughter Misa Bharti in grabbing a chair in the Lok Sabha. But he was proved wrong.
Ritlal, still in jail, contested the election of the MLC seat with the votes of local body and panchayat members from Patna, as an Independent. He won convincingly trouncing the JDU and the BJP candidates. Being a confidant of Lalu everything between them appeared to be all right till the 2014 general elections when the RJD boss went to his house after Misa decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls. He then contested as Independent, as Patna fell in JDU's kitty, defying the RJD-JDU alliance's diktats. The RJD soon expelled him from the party.
Ritlal's "change of heart" has sent jitters in the RJD camp. "We have seen him touching the feet of Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad several times. Now, he is refusing to even acknowledge their existence. It may influence the votes in some pockets in Patna particularly among the Yadavs," said an RJD MLC.
It reflects the growing number of local Yadav leaders defying Lalu's diktats, he added. "The exit of leaders like Ram Kripal Yadav and Pappu Yadav has already taken a toll on the party's core base," he added.
