Sadhu Yadav, estranged Lalu kin who read the tea leaves better than a fortune teller

Lalu Prasad's brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav has now shifted to BSP after a brief stint with Congress. Will this bring him success after quitting RJD?

Sadhu Yadav
Lalu Prasad's estranged brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav.

Although the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat bordering Uttar Pradesh is known as Bihar's Chittorgarh for the seemingly decisive dominance of the upper caste Rajputs, Lalu Prasad's estranged brother-in-law Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav is trying hard to emerge as the third pole in this Bhojpuri-speaking constituency.

Both the major coalitions in Bihar, NDA and Opposition mahagathbandhan, have fielded Rajput candidates - Sitting MP and BJP candidate Janardhan Singh Sigriwal and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Randhir Singh.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sigriwal had defeated RJD's Prabhnath Singh by just 38,415 votes. This time RJD has fielded Prabhunath Singh's son Randhir Singh. But Sadhu Yadav has emerged as the biggest threat for Randhir Singh, who is fighting his debut election.

Though Sadhu Yadav is contesting as a candidate of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which does not have much following in Bihar, Lalu Prasad's brother-in-law cannot be dismissed as a pushover. Sadhu is trying hard to wean away the Yadav vote base of RJD and make it a triangular contest.

Sadhu Yadav is not among the favourites to win but he can well emerge as a spoiler for any of the two candidates. In 2009, when Sadhu last fought in a Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate from West Champaran after brother-in-law Lalu Prasad denied him a ticket, he was seen as the major cause behind the defeat of RJD-LJP alliance candidate Prakash Jha.

BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal won the West Champaran seat in 2009 by polling 1,98,781 votes whereas RJD-LJP alliance candidate Prakash Jha, who fetch 1,51,438 votes, finished second. As it turned out, Sadhu Yadav, who finished third with 70,001 votes succeeded to pocket more votes than the margin with which Jaiswal had defeated Jha.

Prakash Jha, whose movie Gangajal had a villain named Sadhu Yadav, later admitted that Rabri's brother was the man behind his defeat in 2009.

A decade later, while Sadhu has shifted from West Champaran to Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat in 2019, his potential to wean away a sizeable chunk of votes is a cause of worry for both NDA and grand alliance candidates.

From being one of the most powerful man for much of the 15 years that the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi ruled over Bihar, to being someone who just splits votes, life indeed has come a full circle for Sadhu Yadav.

During RJD's 15-year-rule, Sadhu was a law unto himself - terrorising people, assaulting bureaucrats, muscling his way as a power broker and effecting transfers and postings of officials, the list of his antics was long.

Yadav began his legislative career in 1995 when Lalu - then as Bihar Chief Minister, secured a nomination for Rabri's brother in Bihar Legislative Council in 1995 "for his exemplary social service."

Later, Lalu also successfully fielded Sadhu in 2004 Lok Sabha poll from Gopalganj. But, Sadhu Yadav refused to lie low after Lalu denied him ticket in the 2009 general election.

Sadhu then joined Congress and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections. Sadhu did not contest the 2010 Bihar assembly and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He finished a distant third from Barauli seat in 2015 assembly polls. Now in 2019, with a BSP ticket in hand, Sadhu Yadav is hoping to create a splash.

While Sadhu Yadav has had his back to the wall for over a decade now, he has always had a never-say-die attitude with an uncanny knack of reading the tea leaves.

When Lalu denied Sadhu Yadav, then a sitting party MP, an RJD ticket to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he immediately switched over to Congress.

Though Sadhu lost, the Congress formed the government at the Centre. Again, just before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sadhu succeeded in meeting then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Gujarat, obviously seeking an entry into the saffron party.

If sources are to be believed, only a very strong negative feedback from Bihar BJP stopped the saffron leadership from inducting him. As it turned out, Sadhu had once again picked a winner ahead of time. Narendra Modi swept the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, only that Sadhu could not benefit despite his foresight.

Though Sadhu has had several run-ins with Lalu in the past, the beginning of his estrangement was rooted in Lalu's proclivity for Shahabuddin.

Shahabuddin was so powerful that when Lalu discovered a raging turf war between Sadhu Yadav and Shahabuddin, the RJD boss rebuffed Rabri brother, calling the Siwan don a strong pillar of the party.

Sadhu once again tried for his political revival after Nitish Kumar picked Jitan Ram Manjhi as Bihar Chief Minister in May 2014. In January 2015, Manjhi visited Sadhu Yadav's residence to have dahi-chuda (curd and beaten rice), a meeting that created much consternation in the ruling JD(U).

When Manjhi was forced to step down as chief minister only three weeks after his feast at Sadhu's three-storied sprawling bungalow in Patna, Rabri Devi's brother strongly backed the Mahadalit leader in his hour of crisis.

When Jitan Ram Manjhi visited the Governor in Patna on February 9, Sadhu stood behind him in the atrium of Patna Raj Bhawan. But as he was forced to step down; Manjhi also quietly slipped away, refusing to be a ladder to let Sadhu revive his political career.

In 2019, Sadhu Yadav reminds everyone of someone with overwhelming ambitions seeking space in the shifting sands of Bihar's electoral politics. Virtually reduced to a persona non grata for RJD's first family; the 55-year-old; out-of-favour brother of Rabri Devi has desperately been searching a straw to hang on to. Mayawati's BSP now seems to be his last bet.

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