Patna, March 25: Lalu Prasad should be relieved that he didn’t eventually stanch the flow of Gangaajal.

If he had, the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief would have had the embarrassing prospect of having to campaign for the director, Prakash Jha, as a candidate against a brother-in-law who tried to block the film’s screening in 2003.

Sadhu Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s brother-in-law who recently crossed over to the Congress after being denied an RJD ticket, had alleged that Jha had conceived one of the film’s villains, called Sadhu Yadav, to ridicule him.

Jha, pitted as a nominee of RJD ally Lok Janshakti Party against Sadhu from West Champaran, had showed Lalu Prasad the film then and reasoned that the character of Sadhu, played by actor Mohan Joshi, had nothing to do with his brother-in-law and the resemblance was merely a “coincidence”. Lalu Prasad, the de-facto Bihar helmsman at the time even though wife Rabri Devi was the chief minister, had agreed with Jha. The film was then allowed uninterrupted screenings.

Now, six years after Jha triumphed in that movie battle, he is having to take on the man who tried to throttle his brainchild in the theatres of Patna. And, this time, too, he will have Lalu Prasad with him all the way. The dust bowl of West Champaran could witness a poll potboiler no less riveting than Gangaajal as Bihar’s former first family hit the streets against one of their own.

Sadhu, accused of being law unto himself while his sister and brother-in-law ruled, will see them both campaigning against him, along with LJP boss Ram Vilas Paswan.

Jha has other reasons to be confident. He hails from the district, unlike Sadhu, who is Gopalganj, further away. Jha is also highlighting his contributions to the area’s development. One of them is a sugar factory-cum-distillery he is setting up in the area. The project promises jobs and gains for cane-growers.

Jha could also bask in the afterglow of a star-studded campaign. His supporters expect Katrina Kaif, featuring in his upcoming Rajniti, and Madhuri Dixit, cast in Mrityudand, and other Bollywood bigwigs at his rallies.

Sadhu, shuttling around the area in a chopper said to have been given by the Congress, will have stars, too: Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are likely to take the dais for him.

But West Champaran, suddenly waking up to its “VIP status” after Jha and Sadhu made it their battlefield, almost appears to have little attention left for its BJP candidate, Sanjay Jaiswal. He is son of late Bettiah MP, Madan Prasad Jaiswal, who was known for his RSS roots.