Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, September 27
Three titans of Bihar politics namely Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Sharad Yadav would be overseeing the ensuing elections in Bihar from hospital beds.
All the three leaders are admitted to hospitals in New Delhi and Ranchi.
Ram Vilas Paswan is admitted in the ICU of AIIMS New Delhi, according to his son and LJP president Chirag Paswan while Sharad Yadav is admitted in a private hospital in the national capital.
Subhashini Raj Rao, Sharad Yadav’s daughter says he is in a critical condition.
Chirag too issued five tweets and a letter addressed to the party workers informing “Papa will be absent from Bihar elections for the first time in the last 50 years.” Paswan was first elected to Bihar assembly in 1969.
RJD leader Lalu Prasad is admitted in Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi. Of the three leaders, he is the only one making a public appearance despite “ill-health”.
His son and leader of opposition Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav is going every Monday to Ranchi to meet him and discuss party affairs. Lalu was elected to Lok Sabha first in 1977 from Chapra.
Subhashini Raj in an emotional letter said the health condition of her father was very poor for the last few days. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, union health minister Harshvardhan for inquiring about his health and being concerned over treatment.
She also thanked the chief minister, Nitish Kumar for taking care of her father’s health and issuing instructions to the hospital authorities. However, there was not a word about RJD leaders. Sharad had floated Loktantrik Janta Dal after being ousted from JDU and was an alliance partner of RJD.
Sharad was first elected to Lok Sabha from Jabalpur in 1974 and later shifted to Madhepura in Bihar. He was defeated in the 2019 elections. He represented Bihar in Rajya Sabha too.
JDU tried to exploit her letter thanking the chief minister for taking care of Sharad Yadav. Neeraj Kumar, Information and public relations minister, appreciated Subhashani’s comments on Nitish and said Sharad was ignored by the RJD.
Lalu Prasad is getting treatment in the RIIMS prison ward, where he was shifted from the AIIMS, New Delhi. He is in jail following conviction in fodder scam. Lalu will not be able to participate in the election campaign but is playing an active role in the seat sharing arrangements with alliance partners and selection of RJD candidates.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren visited him two days ago to demand 12 seats for JMM in Bihar elections. AJSU leader Radhakrishna Kishore and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay also called on him in the jail. Hundreds of RJD leaders from Bihar are going to meet him daily from different parts seeking his “blessings”, but only few are allowed entry due to jail manual restrictions.
The three leaders were in great demand during the election campaign in the last and played decisive roles in the distribution of tickets too.
