Raghuvansh Prasad's Death: An End To The 32 Yr Long Tryst With Lalu Yadav, 'Personal Loss For RJD Supremo'

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh was one of the founding members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and was the closest political aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Singh's demise can be looked at as a personal loss for RJD President.

File Photo: PTI

Former Union cabinet minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh passed away at AIIMS hospital in Delhi today. The veteran's demise is a huge jolt to the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav who not only lost his associate and political advisor but a close friend who knew everything about Lalu and RJD since the past 32 years. With Bihar elections coming up, political analysts said that it was only Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who could have helped the RJD leaders revive the political wave for RJD and Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav. Also Read|Former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Passes Away, Lalu Yadav "Speechless & Grieved" Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's demise has come as a huge shock to Lalu Yadav who was pitching to bring his friend back to the party after Singh resigned from RJD two days ago. Raghuvansh Prasad’s letter, written from the hospital bed, has sent shockwaves across the RJD leadership. Bihar is headed for assembly elections and there have long been grumblings about the party’s leadership. Prasad’s resignation is yet another pointer that all may not be well within the party. “We do not know why he wrote this letter. The RJD leaders were meeting him regularly and taking care of him. Recently, Tejashwi Yadav had also met him,” said Naval Kishore, RJD’s national spokesperson. It is believed that Raghuvansh Prasad was upset with Tej Pratap Yadav’s statement, in which Lalu’s eldest son said that the veteran leader’s status in RJD is equal to just ek lota pani (one mug of water). However, Tej Pratap Yadav later said that Singh is a family member and will be persuaded to stay. Long tryst with Lalu and RJD Prasad, a five-time MLA from the Belsand assembly seat, was a minister during Karpoori Thakur’s government. He was elected to parliament for the first time in 1996, from the Vaishali Lok Sabha seat on a Janata Dal ticket. In July 1997, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Raghuvansh Prasad, and many more MPs of the Janata Dal formed the RJD after separating from the Janata Dal. Since then, he continued to win from Vaishali on the RJD’s ticket until 2009. In the 2014 general elections, he was defeated by Rama Singh by around 1 lakh votes. In the 2019 general election, again contested from Vaishali seat but this time lost to another LJP leader, Veena Devi. She won with a margin of around 2.3 lakh votes. During his career as an RJD leader, he also became a Union minister in the UPA government and held top positions in several important committees. His relations with Tejashwi Yadav, younger son and heir apparent of Lalu Prasad, turned sour when he started pitching for Nitish Kumar back to the Grand Alliance helmed by the RJD after the party received its worst-ever drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls last year. The JD(U) is said to be keen to win over Singh, a highly respected Rajput leader, in the run-up to the assembly elections, and speculations have been rife that it is mooting a legislative council berth for the former Union ministers son. RJD is going through a period of transition and old leaders are being replaced by young blood. It is pertinent to note that this might be one of the reasons for Raghvansh Prasad ending his 32 years political stint with the party. Raghuvansh Prasad Yadav one of the founding members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and political companion of Lalu Prasad Yadav never wavered in his backing of the RJD supremo even in the worst of his times. Raghuvansh Prasad's death will affect Lalu Prasad Yadav personally.