October 16, 2020 10:41:21 am
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav during a press conference in New Delhi. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)
After their experiment of generously handing out seats to alliance partners and contesting only 19 state seats in last year’s Lok Sabha elections failed, the Rashtriya Janata Dal decided not to give up much ground in the Assembly elections of this year. The party is preparing to contest the maximum number of seats and take advantage of its strengths.
After going blank in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the RJD cannot afford to take any more risks. The party is contesting 144 seats this year, leaving 70 seats for Congress and 29 for the three left-wing parties. The RJD has also reached out to its cadres across the state, instilling in them the need to maintain supremacy in the alliance. When Lalu was at its peak, the RJD had the backing of most CBO groups, Muslims and Dalits. Over the years Nitish has managed to divide that with his EBC-Mahadalit approach.
Members of the RJD also understand that the party won 80 seats in the 2015 Assembly elections only on the combined strength of Lalu Prasad’s strong social base and Nitish Kumar’s leadership. With Nitish joining the NDA, the RJD has their homework short. The departure of smaller parties such as the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) from the RJD-led Grand Alliance have added to the challenges. However, sources said that Tejashwi believes that these smaller parties are unable to transfer their votes and that their MLAs are vulnerable to post-election poaching attempts.
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