Even Nitish failed to read Lalu's mind

       Without any scion of the party, Nitish Kumar had a chance to make the Janata Dal (United) dominant in the state of Bihar, and set an example for the regional parties that one-leader-party can also survive for long, but he lost the opportunity to do so due to his practice of switching sides since he broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013. 

Photo credit- Lalu Prasad Yadav Twitter 

       He joined the ‘mahagathbandhan’, an alliance formed by the regional parties in Bihar just before the 2014 general election, but the parties which were in coalition were blown out in the storm by the Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of then Gujarat Chief Minister and Hindutva leader Narendra Modi who later claimed the throne of Delhi. 

       Although the election was a nightmare for the JD(U), but he proved, only in one year, that his decision was not wrong and managed to win 71 seats in the 2015 Bihar assembly election. He again became the chief minister of the state. In 2017, he flipped his side again and joined the NDA bloc, but he never compromised with the post of chief minister. For the third time, he switched his side, joined the grand alliance and also became chief minister of the state even after having a lesser number of seats than the RJD.

        He always appeared victorious in getting chief ministerial post. In doing so, he had been unaware of the fact what politics was being played by other political groups in the state. By accepting his proposals to be the chief minister of the state, the RJD had been attempting to thieve the support base of his party. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav never denied his proposition and had been making deal conferring the deputy CM post for his son Tejashwi Yadav. 

        The game Lalu played is rarely seen in politics. Lalu Prasad Yadav knew that my son was still learning the initial lesson of politics. He has long miles ahead to go. Hence, he concurred with the Nitish’s offers. 

      Belonging to an agricultural family, Lalu knows how waiting is fruitful in farming. He applied this theory to politics for the benefit of his son. 

      Lalu is not anonymous in politics. Born on June 11, 1948, he earned fame as a politician who talked to the supporters in layman's language and mixed humour with politics. He made his entry to every household by his unique style of speech and his hair. The Lalu style is still popular for those who cannot part their hair in villages. 

     In Parliament, MPs had been laughing at his way of speaking. But, in the blink of an eye, he became marginalised after his conviction in a corruption case. He lost his membership in the parliament and was prohibited from contesting elections following a Supreme Court order that disqualified politicians if they were convicted for a minimum of 2 years. 

       At the time of his conviction, it was assumed as the end of the 'Lalu dynasty' but he proved it wrong and made his party — Rashtriya Janata Dal — still alive. His son Tejashwi Yadav emerged as a shining face of the party.