Lalu Gives Poll Tickets to Wife, Daughter
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad has fielded his wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi from the Saran Lok Sabha constituency, earlier represented by him, and his eldest daughter Misa Bharti from Patliputra, where he lost the last Parliamentary elections by a small margin.
While announcing his daughter’s candidature on Thursday, Lalu said: “I have dared give a party ticket to my daughter owing to popular demand. She is the daughter-in-law of the constituency.”
And the move had an immediate fallout -- a Rajya Sabha MP of the party, Ram Kripal Yadav, resigned from all party positions. He is likely to join the BJP to contest the polls.
It was on Monday that Lalu announced the first list of candidates for the upcoming general elections.
The eldest of Lalu’s nine children, Misa got her name from the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), the law under which the former Chief Minister and many other leaders of the JP movement were jailed during the Emergency.
His two sons, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, though active in politics unlike Misa, haven’t attained the minimum age to contest Parliamentary elections.
Lalu has been debarred from contesting polls after his conviction in a fodder scam case last year.
In 2009, Lalu fought the elections from both Saran and Patliputra constituencies. He won from Saran but lost the Patliputra seat. This time the party will contest in 27 seats and the Congress will put up candidates in 12 seats. The remaining one seat will go to the NCP.