About 25 km from Gopalganj town in Bihar, as one turns right from Line Bazar, a signboard reading “Phulwaria” – the native village of RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad – can be missed easily. The white lettering on the blue board has faded.
The metalled road leading to Phulwaria also seems eroded. The road inside the village is not marked by potholes, although the drains lining them overflow.
Sitting in front of his house, a 60-year-old villager Paras Nath Yadav claims that whatever development the village has seen took place under the Lalu dispensation over two decades ago. “The village has been neglected deliberately since. From the primary health centre to school, nothing functions properly. It was only recently that the village road was rebuilt, thanks to the local RJD MLA,” says Paras.
He recalls the time when Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan would often come together to the village and have lunch in an adjoining house. “Those were Janata Dal days. Since their break-up, Nitish has never come to the village even though he has visited Gopalganj many times,” he says.
Paras says during the Lalu regime the administration promptly addressed the villagers’ grievances, but people have to pay bribes to get things done now. “Ye afsarshahi ki sarkar hai (Nitish government is one of babus),” he rues. “For all the criticism, the administration under Lalu was responsive.”
The concerns of Durgesh Yadav, a 38-year-old company employee, are different. He flags stagnating income and rising prices as the “big issues” in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.
“Land holdings are becoming smaller by the day and farming is not generating enough income to sustain children education and other needs of life. Government schools are not good, nor is public healthcare. So one has to spend money from one’s pocket to get better services. Any government which comes to power must address these issues,” he says.
Durgesh voted for Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but would vote for the RJD in the Assembly elections.
“CM Nitish ji did good work in his first five years (2005-10). His biggest achievement was law and order. Nobody would want to see those days again. But after that he forgot about development. It has been 20 years and the state needs a change of leadership,” he says, obliquely conceding poor law and order during the Lalu era.
Another villager, Prakash Yadav, 30, sounds confident about the RJD’s prospects this time. “The village has 2,600 votes and all are voting for Tejashwi,” he says.
Several residents cutting across caste lines declared that they will vote for the RJD. Phulwaria falls in the Hathua Assembly constituency in Gopalganj district, which is scheduled for voting on November 11 in the second phase.
Sonu Pandey, a young Bhumihar villager, rails against the Nitish-led NDA government. “He (Nitish) says anything these days. For the past 15 years he has been giving just Rs 400 to senior citizens. What can you do with that money? It was only after Tejashwi and Jan Suraaj raised this issue that he raised it to Rs 1,100. Darubandi (prohibition) is only on paper. Liquor is available everywhere,” he claims.
His father Pramod Singh quietens him, saying with a smile: “None of this is important. The fact of the matter is Lalu is from this village and so we will vote for him. It does not matter what happens to his party. Whatever good or bad he did, he has been rewarded and punished for that. He is sitting in the Opposition. But such a big leader is from our village. He has become our identity.”
Sunil Thakur, a shopkeeper from the Nai group (EBC), echoes Pramod’s views. But he says, “There are no jobs. Any government which comes must do something about it.”
He does not believe Tejashwi can deliver on his promise to give one government job to every family. “Bihar’s population is too large. But Tejashwi should at least be given a chance. If he does not do well, people will change him. Nitish has been given too many chances. He is tired now,” he says.
Gama Bhagat, a Kushwaha (OBC) farmer, also voices his loyalty to the RJD but does not resent Nitish. “After all, these village roads were not built only under Lalu. Development has happened during Nitish’s time too. But when a person from the village is in the fray, you don’t see good or bad,” he says.
Such open expression of allegiance to the RJD, however, peters out as one crosses the village boundary. Outside, several people said they would vote along caste lines or on the basis of a candidate’s performance. The Hathua seat has sizeable numbers of Yadavs, Kushwahas, Muslims, Bhumihars, Banias and Dalits.
The house of Chandeshwar Pande, a Bhumihar, is located barely 1 km away from Phulwaria. He says Lalu is not a factor for him, but he will vote for the RJD because of its candidate, the sitting MLA Rajesh Kumar Singh, with whom he has good relations. In 2024, he had voted for Modi.
At Line Bazar, several Muslim faces pledged their support for the RJD, while those from the OBC Bania and Paswan groups said they favoured the NDA.
Pramod Sah, who runs a sweetshop, says he can never forget the Lalu days when one could not venture out after dark. “Material for road construction would come and then be taken away and the road would never be built. Now there are roads, free power, water. Everything is good about this government, why change it,” says Sah, who is from the Madhesia (OBC) group.
Yet, he wants to see a new CM. “Hopefully after NDA wins, Nitish will go to Delhi,” he adds.
In the 2020 polls, Rajesh had defeated the JD(U)’s Ramsewak Singh by over 30,000 votes. This time too, the JD(U) has pitted Ramsewak against Rajesh, both of whom belong to the Kushwaha community. The Jan Suraaj has fielded Sanjay Suman, a professor at a local university, who is from the Paswan Dalit group.