A banner shows Rabri Devi performing Chhath and Lalu behind bars on one of the vehicles of the RJD cavalcade during the Parivartan Rally in Patna on Monday and (below right) the former chief minister and her elder son, Tej Pratap, in Patna City on their way to Sherghati for the rally. Pictures by Deepak Kumar and Sachin

Patna, Nov. 18: The writing on the wall, or for that matter on the cars, was clear. Rabri Devi is the torchbearer of the RJD, at least for now.

The flex banners, carrying a statement — the voice that used to raise issues of the backward, extremely backward, Dalit and minorities has been subdued to languish in jail — summed up the present scenario in the party that once ruled the state for over a decade. Even the accompanying picture in the posters — Lalu Prasad behind bars, Rabri celebrating Chhath without her husband — symbolises what the party is up to.

This morning, resumption of the Parivartan Yatra — aborted soon after Lalu went to jail in September — was hardly a clarion call for change but the one of sympathy. Rabri’s words were more for drawing the attention of supporters and voters for an “orphaned” party.

“Laluji is innocent. He has fallen victim to a political conspiracy of our rivals. It is high time for all of you to stay united and keep fighting against the communal forces. The JD(U) is hand-in-glove with the BJP. You have to fight against both to bring back the rule of the poor in the state,” Rabri told the people at her first stopover at Sherghati in Gaya district.

Party MPs Prabhunath Singh, Ram Kripal Yadav, former Union minister Kanti Singh, council member Ghulam Ghaus, Rabri’s two sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi besides others accompanied her in over 15 SUVs that set off from her 10 Circular Road residence at 9.45am.

After Lalu went behind bars, Rabri had announced that she would go among the people in the hinterlands after the end of Chhath.

Rabri stuck to her words. She also stuck to the political lines that Lalu had already defined. “The BJP is like Ravana while the JD(U) is like Kansh. Together, they fooled people and looted Bihar for over seven years. Now, they are trying to create the impression that they are separate to divert the people’s attention from their misdeeds,” she roared.

The objective behind Rabri putting the BJP and the JD(U) on the same page was to keep the minorities — a crucial part of the RJD’s famed Muslim-Yadav combination — supporting her party.

In an apparent bid to generate sympathy among the cadres and electorate, Rabri never misses an oportunity to say that Lalu — “the soul and voice of Bihar’s poor” — was innocent. Aware that Lalu’s long absence might cause dejection among the cadres, Tejaswi, drafted in the party recently, supplemented his mother. “Laluji will come out and will talk to you soon. There is no need to feel sad. Our leader (Lalu) is innocent and unblemished,” the Yadav scion said.

Unlike the frenzy and cacophony that used to be the part of Lalu’s ventures, Rabri left her home with the party leaders in a relatively quieter manner. There was no sloganeering and cheering. The leaders and cadres quietly came to 10 Circular Road to get onto the vehicles and proceed for Sherghati.

Rabri and senior party leaders are scheduled to address public meetings at Paliganj (Patna division), Meenaapur (Tirhut), Kochas (Bhojpur), Lakhisarai (Munger) and Jeevach Ghat (Darbhanga) from November 21 to December 8.

“The next course of action will be decided on the conclusion of the Partivartan Yatra in all the divisions of the state,” party general secretary Ram Kripal Yadav said.

About Rabri’s yatra, chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to comment.

“We spoke once in a while when Lalu was around. There is no point commenting on his (Lalu’s) party when he is missing,” Nitish said.