Hurdles for the herder

Although Lalu Prasad Yadav is still their tallest leader and a majority of Yadavs, like all others in Bihar, are still relying on caste equations, the field has opened up. For people from the Yadav communities, especially the younger generation, there is suddenly more to elections than Lalu Yadav and his RJD. So if the BJP fields a Yadav candidate, chances are brighter that Yadav votes will go to that corner if pitted against a non-Yadav candidate from the Lalu-Nitish-Congress alliance. For Lalu, it's now or never, because there will be little steam left in his brand of politics once the Yadavs switch sides for good. more