Rabri Devi and her sons at the rally in Paliganj on Friday. Telegraph picture

Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi’s fleet of cars was making its way to Paliganj to address a public meeting, when a sight, missing in the RJD for eight years, greeted her.

As she crossed into the Muslim-dominated Phulwarisharif, crowds gathered to greet her with garlands raising slogans in favour of Lalu Prasad. “This continued right up to Paliganj, where there was a huge crowd waiting for me,” a confident Rabri Devi told The Telegraph on Friday, stressing that the support base of the RJD was intact. “The Muslims had never left us,” she said, seeing the large crowds in Paliganj and Gaya.

The turn of crowds in Rabri Devi’s public meeting has enthused the RJD. Rabri is not known for her oratory skills, much less a match to Lalu Prasad’s witty speeches, which enthrall crowds. “People have become fed up with the Nitish government. They feel that Nitish has pushed the clock back. They miss the time of the Lalu era when the government gave dignity to their lives,” said Rabri, stressing that she was not alone. “The entire party is united and the people are with me. The days of the Nitish government are limited. The downtrodden know that we will return to power,” she said, stressing that she would continue with her Parivartan Yatra.

“The perception that Muslims are going over to Nitish’ side is over. The fight is going to be between BJP and RJD. We have a far stronger base than the JD(U),” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav, stressing that Rabri’s two public meetings had met with tremendous response from the sections which voted for his party.

The crowds in Rabri’s meeting has worried both the JD(U) and the BJP. After snapping ties with the BJP on the issue of Narendra Modi, the JD(U) had presumed that the Muslims, which constitute 18 per cent of the electorate, would switch over to their party. “But the large presence of Muslims in Rabri’s meetings proves that it has not happened,” said a senior JD(U) leader.

Publicly, it is trying to put up a brave front. State party president Bashishtha Narayan Singh said crowds do not automatically convert into votes. “Nobody, not even Rabri Devi, can replace Lalu in the party. She is undertaking this Parivartan Yatra to boost the sagging morale of her party workers,” he said.

Sources indicated which way the Muslims go would depend on which party the Congress prefers to ally with. The raids and arrests of Indian Mujahideen (IM) supporters in Bihar by the NIA following the blasts at Gandhi Maidan is also worrying the JD(U). “It is sending a wrong message to Muslims in the state. The Nitish government is being accused of targeting Muslim youths. The problem is that Nitish Kumar cannot afford to play the Muslim card as crudely as Mulayam Singh Yadav. With the NaMo effect, there is possibility of a backlash,” said a senior JD(U) leader.