Lalu gets five-year jail term, sparks leadership crisis in RJD

Party's hopes for 2014 election in jeopardy as lantern seems to dim

Rashtriya Janata Dal  (RJD) president Lalu Prasad was on Thursday sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in a 17-year-old fodder scam case, which disqualifies him from Parliament and renders him ineligible to contest elections for at least six years.

The sentencing of Prasad is set to deepen his problems. His worries are not limited to losing his Lok Sabha seat, he also has to douse the leadership crisis in his party.

The sentencing has clearly put the RJD’s hopes for the 2014 elections in jeopardy. Earlier, the party had hoped to encash on the rift between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, with its most popular leader being convicted in the fodder scam, the party may go through a tough period. In fact, some party members are discreetly asking for a change of guard.

Prasad tried to clear the air by holding party meetings inside the Hotwar jail in Ranchi, in a bid to show that he still called the shots. He even issued statements indicating he was still at the helm of affairs. However, there are few takers of this show of strength. Several of his comrades, as well as his sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap and daughter Misa Bharti, are eager to become leaders in the party.

The frontrunner, though, is his wife, Rabri Devi, who Prasad made the CM in 1997 to quell the rebellion inside the then Janata Dal.

This time, too, Devi has been handpicked by Lalu to run the party on a day-to-day basis.

“We are certain that Laluji will get bail from the high court in no time," senior RJD leader and member of Parliament, Ramkripal Yadav, told Business Standard. “He is our leader and the party president’s post is no constitutional position. Therefore, he does not need to resign. In the meantime,

Rabriji will guide us. She has done it earlier and she will do it again.”

Devi, too, has accepted the role. “The current regime in the state has conspired against Laluji. We will go to the people's court and state our case. In the meantime, I will run the party with the help of Tejaswi just like Sonia Gandhi runs Congress with the help of Rahul Gandhi," Devi stated a couple of days ago. However, the loss of power in Bihar changed the political scenario and her lack of political acumen has made her obsolete in the state's political arena.

This also makes it clear that 24-year-old Tejaswi, the youngest son of Prasad and Devi, will now be the second-in-command in the party. He had tried his hand at cricket, but success eluded him. As his father's favourite son and as a young face of the party, he faced no problem in climbing the political ladder. However, his lack of experience and the rising ambitions of senior party leaders could make his political journey difficult. Apart from them, the biggest challengers to his authority will be from his own brother, Tej Pratap, and sister, Misa Bharti.

Meanwhile, some senior leaders are also said to be eager to replace Prasad. These leaders include party MPs Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Prabhunath Singh and Ramkripal Yadav.

According to party members, the time Prasad will spend in jail will play a crucial role in resolving this crisis. If he gets bail within a month, he will be able to avert the crisis. As one senior leader of the RJD puts it: “There is a long festive season ahead, which is certainly not very festive for us. Festivals means holidays and holidays means no work in the courts. It will only make the road tougher for us as the election season is just round the corner.”