With the Bihar Legislative Council election results triggering fresh political calculations, Rohini Acharya, daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, has suggested a possible coming together of Tejashwi Yadav and Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor to defeat the BJP-led NDA in the state.
In a social media post, Rohini argued that combining the votes secured by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jan Suraaj could have prevented the NDA from winning several seats in the recently concluded polls.
Her post, in a rough translation, read: “The MLC elections in Bihar have provided a formula to defeat the BJP/NDA in the state: TJ + PK = BJP/NDA ZERO. If the votes secured by the RJD and Jan Suraaj are combined, the BJP/NDA would lose all eight seats in the very first round of counting. PS: Just wait and see what happens next!!”
She followed it with another post highlighting the importance of opposition unity and preventing a division of votes. She said, “The BJP has always benefited from a fragmented opposition. If the opposition unites - armed with the right strategy and a strong grassroots base - and prevents the splitting of votes, defeating the BJP is entirely possible. A united opposition possesses much stronger social and political equations.”
How RJD-Jan Suraaj Votes Could Change The Numbers
Rohini's argument is based on a comparison of first-preference votes polled by the RJD and Jan Suraaj candidates against those secured by the NDA across the eight constituencies.
In Darbhanga Graduates', the NDA candidate received 14,774 votes, while the combined RJD-Jan Suraaj tally stood at 22,713. In Kosi Graduates', the corresponding figures were 24,258 and 34,454. Patna Graduates' also showed a similar gap, with the NDA securing 16,267 votes against the opposition's combined 25,163.
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The teachers' constituencies reflected the same trend. In Saran, the NDA polled 2,440 votes against the combined 3,707 of the two opposition parties. In Patna, the figures were 3,149 and 4,652, respectively.
Darbhanga Teachers' recorded 812 NDA votes against 2,700 combined opposition votes, while Tirhut Teachers' saw the NDA secure 1,872 against 3,048.
Tirhut Graduates' Remains An Exception
The combined-vote calculation did not favour the opposition in every constituency. Tirhut Graduates' was the only seat where the NDA candidate's 19,913 first-preference votes exceeded the combined RJD and Jan Suraaj tally of 17,258.
Individually, Jan Suraaj won one seat, while the RJD secured two in the Legislative Council elections.
Will Tejashwi Yadav And Prashant Kishor Join Hands?
Rohini's suggestion has brought the possibility of an RJD-Jan Suraaj understanding into Bihar's political discussion. However, the combined vote figures represent a hypothetical scenario rather than an actual electoral outcome.
Vote transfers between parties cannot be assumed, as voter preferences may differ depending on candidates and constituencies.
Neither Tejashwi Yadav nor Prashant Kishor has responded to the proposed formula so far. RJD leaders have also declined to comment on the possibility of such an alliance.