Lalu’s Lantern With Nitish’s Fuel: Women of Wajidpur

For the women of Bihar, issues take precedence over caste politics.

The Quint’s Rishika Baruah traveled to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bastion Raghopur to check out the pulse of the women voters. (Photo: The Quint)

Raghopur is Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family fiefdom and his 26-year-old son Tejaswi Yadav is fighting to win back the family bastion. In 2010, riding on the Nitish Kumar wave, sitting JD(U) MLA Satish Kumar defeated Lalu’s wife and former CM Rabri Devi from Raghopur.

As Lalu and Nitish joined hands, Tejaswi was given a ticket from Raghopur and this time, Satish Kumar is fighting on a BJP ticket and hoping to repeat his victory.

Of the 2.8 lakh voters in Raghopur, 1.25 lakh are Yadavs. And while they are traditionally loyal to Lalu, the 2010 defeat taught the Yadav family not to take loyalty for granted. Despite being the family bastion and the erstwhile chief minister’s constituency, Raghopur has seen little development.

As Raghopur goes to vote in the third phase of the Bihar election, The Quint travelled to Wajidpur village in the constituency to gauge the mood of the women voters.

“There is nothing here, we have to go to Hajipur for everything,” says Sumitra Devi.

Srija Singh, who has been living in Wajidpur village for the last 50 years, is also disillusioned with the Yadav family’s politics.

<p>Roads, education and health are the main issues. Lalu has done no work and we don’t want just the lantern (RJD party symbol) anymore, we need fuel to light it too. We have a huge issue with the education of girls. We will vote for Lalu only because Nitish Kumar will fuel it.</p>

<p><b>Srija Singh, Resident of Wajidpur</b></p>

Srija Singh, a resident of Wajidpur speaks with The Quint. (Photo: The Quint)

Geeta Devi and Phool Kumari agree. For these women, issues have taken precedence over the caste their leader belongs to.

When asked if the electorate will give Lalu another chance, Phool Kumari says, “If Lalu works he will win. Anyone who works for us will win.” The women around nod in agreement.

There is a sense of disillusionment with the Yadav family, but Nitish Kumar’s development track record is quite the conversation starter. He launched a number of schemes for women, the most popular one being cycles for girl students. The mood among the women is upbeat when it comes to Kumar’s work in rural areas.

<p>Nitish has done a lot of work, especially for women and in the education sector. If Tejaswi wins, it will be because of Nitish.</p>

<p><b>Krishna Devi, Resident of Raghopur</b></p>

And then we ask the big question: What about Prime Minister Narendra Modi?

But the women weren’t too excited. Hema, who was sitting quietly throughout the discussion, spoke when the conversation turned towards the Prime Minister.

<p>I voted for Modi in the last election, but now I will vote for Nitish. Modi has not yet done anything for us. But we hope Nitish will work for us.</p>

<p><b>Hema, Resident of Raghopur</b></p>

Women make up 46 percent of the electorate in Bihar and it looks like they finally have their politicians’ attention. Nitish Kumar has promised the women of Bihar 50 percent reservation in Panchayat bodies and 35 percent reservation in government jobs.

While Nitish enacted various schemes for women and gave girl students cycles, the BJP has claimed credit for it and further promised scooties to girl students. The fact that special attention is being paid to women voters this time around reflects in the poll pitch and promises made by both Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Modi.

Whether the scooty wins or the cycle, only time will tell.