Gloomy ‘Children’s Day’ for Lalu as sons struggle; big challenges loom for victorious Nitish

Friday, November 14, Children’s Day, was a day to forget for the Rashtriya Janata Dal and its founder Lalu Prasad Yadav.His older son, the mercurial Tej Pratap Yadav, expectedly had a forgettable day at the hustings. But the hurt that the electorate went on to inflict on younger son Tejashwi Yadav and the RJD would have been more keenly felt by Lalu.Many observers, in fact, blamed Lalu and his jungle raj during the 15 years RJD spent in power as having played a huge role in ensuring the defeat of Tejashwi, who was vying to be the youngest CM in Bihar. These experts felt that Nitish’s rule, which followed, was rewarded for the benefits it brought in comparison.Such was the mauling that the RJD suffered on the day that Tejashwi trailed from the party bastion of Raghopur at one point. The constituency had been represented both by Lalu and Tejashwi’s mother former Chief Minister Rabri Devi earlier.Tejashwi, who had been holding the seat since 2015, had been expected to romp home to an easy win. He did win by a margin of over 10000 votes in the end but not before enduring nail-biting moments while trailing by around 5000 votes during counting.



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