With the Bihar power couple and former CMs Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi taking a step back from their erstwhile political avatars, the limelight this season in the state has shifted to their two daughters Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya — RJD candidates from Patliputra and Saran, respectively.
‘Born in revolution!,’ a phrase used by Misa, recalls her birth and naming. Misa was born in 1976, when Lalu was in jail during the Emergency (1975-77) under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Known for his out-of-the-box thinking, Lalu chose ‘Misa’ as the name for his first-born.
No less remarkable was the reason behind the christening of Rohini, who was born under the care of Patna-based gynaecologist Kamla Acharya in 1979. The latter had refused to accept any fee from Lalu and Rabri and instead suggested the couple bestow the title ‘Acharya’ on their baby girl. That’s how Rohini became Rohini Acharya.
While elections will be held in Saran on May 20, in the fifth phase, Patliputra will hit the poll button on June 1 in the seventh and last phase.
Taking a cue from their parents and brothers Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, a former deputy CM, and Tej Pratap Yadav, a former state minister, Misa and Rohini, both MBBS degree holders, have taken to the rough and tumble of electoral battles in right earnest.
Both are firm and clear about their ideological positions. The X account of Misa, for instance, defines her as a “feminist, rationalist, socialist, follow religion but not blindly, and born in revolution, born for revolution”.
Rohini’s X account, too, is indicative of her social awareness as one of her posts says: “So long as we have breath, our fight against communal forces continues.”
Misa emerged on the political horizon in 2016, when she became RJD’s Rajya Sabha member.
In comparison, Rohini is a relative greenhorn. Married to software engineer Rao Samresh Singh, she moved to Singapore with her husband and took care of her family. The couple has two sons and a daughter.
In 2022, Rohini offered one of her kidneys to her ailing father that helped him overcome a lifethreatening condition. So much so, that it earned her the moniker, “Kidney Girl”.
When CM Nitish Kumar indirectly assailed ‘parivarvaad’ (promotion of family members in politics), Rohini, taking it as a dig at her father Lalu, came hard on Nitish with her post on X, which created quite a furore earlier this year.
Although she later deleted her post, the damage was done, as Nitish found an immediate alibi to walk out of the grand alliance and rejoin the BJP-led NDA.
While the X posts were hard enough to stir the social media pot, realpolitik can be a different ball game altogether and both Misa and Rohini know it only too well, having seen their parents and two of their brothers from close quarters for so long. That is why, the siblings are leaving no stone unturned in their quest for glory at the hustings.
Around 9am every day, the entourage of both Misa and Rohini leaves for their pre-decided campaign destinations.
Braving the scorching summer sun, the cavalcade winds down the dustbowl of streets and alleys as the two RJD candidates scour the villages, towns and bazaars, stopping by occasionally to address small public meetings.
Rohini is quite a hit among the audience, given her history as a kidney donor to her father.
The sister duo in their simple attire — printed salwar-kurti, with a scarf in the party’s green colour wrapped around the neck — attract people in hordes, though it’s still anybody’s guess how much of that support will translate into actual votes.
Politically, for the Lalu family, the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat is like a festering wound that has not healed for the last 15 years. Lalu himself lost from here in 2009 to his friendturned-bitter foe Ranjan Prasad Yadav, who was then with JD(U).
In 2014 and 2019, Misa was defeated by Ram Kripal Yadav, the Lalu family confidant who deserted RJD for BJP and went on to become a Union minister under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first term.
This time around, too, BJP has reposed its faith in Ram Kripal.
In contrast, the Saran seat, from where Rohini is contesting, is known as the ‘karmabhoomi’ of Lalu, as he was first elected from here in 1977 at the age of 29, before he went on to repeat the feat in 1989 and 2004.
After launching her campaign with a roadshow in Sonepur on April 2, Rohini toured the six assembly segments that come under Saran over the next 20 days, addressing her maiden public meeting in Chhapra after filing her nomination on April 29.
Lalu had introduced Rohini to the public at the Jan Vishwas Rally of INDIA bloc held at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, in early March, though she didn’t address the gathering. During the filing of nomination, Lalu, Rabri, Misa, Tejashwi and Tej Pratap were all by her side.
“I left all the facilities that I was used to abroad (Singapore) and came to make Saran a beautiful, developed and modern constituency,” she said while addressing the public meeting in Chhapra, adding: “Like a mother taking care of the family members, I will take care of this constituency.”
Back in Patliputra, Misa, too, was trying her best to strike a chord with voters. She posted on X earlier this month: “You are my strength …I say it from the bottom of my heart that I will return the strength given to me by dedicating myself to your service.”
While Rohini has so far refrained from any direct attack on her rival and sitting BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Misa, too, is not assailing Ram Kripal personally.
However, when it comes to attacking the BJP brass in general, Misa has been a lot less reticent than her younger sister. During one of her media interactions, she went on record, claiming that if INDIA bloc forms govt at the Centre, “from PM Modi to every other BJP neta will be in jail”.
Taking that diatribe several notches higher, Misa even described the PM as “a 75-year-old man” and a “booddha”.