Lalu Prasad hits campaign trail in Phulwari Sharif ahead of Bihar polls

RJD president Lalu Prasad, who has been keeping indoors because of fragile health, on Tuesday undertook a drive to Phulwari Sharif constituency, in what is being seen as a "road show" by the greatest crowd puller of his generation.

The reserved constituency, which also has a sizeable population of Muslims, is situated just a few kilometres away from the residence of Prasad, who chose to wave at onlookers from inside his car.

The septuagenarian, who has undergone a heart surgery and a kidney transplant, was last seen in public when his son Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc's CM candidate, filed nomination papers for the Raghopur seat at the collectorate in Vaishali district.

Prasad, who was then accompanied by his wife Rabri Devi and eldest daughter Misa Bharti, had used a wheelchair.

In Phulwari Sharif, which is being contested by RJD ally CPI(ML) Liberation, the former Bihar CM, who was travelling alone, chose not to get out of his vehicle.

He returned home about an hour before campaigning for the first phase came to a close.

Sources close to the family said the charismatic leader undertook a similar journey on Monday, to Danapur, on the outskirts of the city, to garner support for sitting RJD MLA Reet Lal Yadav.

A dreaded gangster-turned-politician, Reet Lal Yadav is currently lodged at a jail in Bhagalpur, facing trial in an extortion case. His bail plea for canvassing in elections was turned down by the Patna High Court.