In RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s defeat from Pataliputra, lies a story about an old friendship gone sour.

Once the “right hand man” of Lalu, Ranjan Prasad Yadav had been given a ticket by the JD(U) after he crossed over from the Lok Janshakti Party. He jumped at the chance of taking on Lalu, and now he has proved right the faith reposed by Nitish Kumar in him.

While many people did not give him much of a chance earlier because of his association with Lalu, political observers now believe Ranjan put into good use the tricks of the trade learnt under his mentor and friend. A former geology teacher at Patna University, he had retired to join politics full time.

Ranjan says he believes that Lalu deliberately kept him away from electoral politics. “I served as an RJD MP twice but never had the feel of voters that made Lalu what he is today.”

According to RJD insiders, while Ranjan was Lalu’s second-in-command from 1990 onwards, they had a falling out as Rabri didn’t like him too much. Ranjan had opposed the dominance of Rabri’s brothers-in-law in Bihar.

After he was jailed in connection with the fodder scam, Lalu also got suspicious of Ranjan, afraid that he would usurp power in his absence. “When Lalu proposed Rabri’s name as his successor in 1997, Ranjan opposed it. But Ranjan mellowed and reconciled to his truncated position, till he finally left in 2002,” said a political analyst.

Having now handed out a defeat to Lalu from Pataliputra by 14,541 votes, Ranjan still remembers their past association fondly. He recalls how they met during their college days at Patna University in the late 1960s, got close and often ate from the same plate. Their families visited each other’s houses. Ranjan’s family oversaw Lalu’s wedding. He remembers the JP Movement that saw the birth of all the current top Bihar leaders — Lalu, Nitish and Sushil Kumar Modi.

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