Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday urged voters in Bihar to bring political change, drawing a folksy parallel between cooking and governance shortly after casting his vote in Patna during the first phase of the Assembly elections.
“We must keep flipping the roti when it’s on the hot tawa, or else it will burn. Twenty years is enough,” Lalu Yadav said, hinting that Bihar needs a new leadership under his son, Tejashwi Yadav. “A Tejashwi-led government is important for a new Bihar,” he added, sharing a photo with his wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav.
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Lalu’s metaphor strikes a chord in Bihar polls
The RJD patriarch’s remarks were seen as a direct attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United)-BJP-led coalition has ruled Bihar since 2005, when it ended the RJD’s 15-year run in power.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also cast his vote in Bakhtiyarpur and urged citizens to turn out in large numbers. “In democracy, voting is not only our right but also our duty. Today, voting for the first phase of the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections is taking place — all voters are urged to exercise their voting rights. Vote and inspire others to vote as well.,” he wrote on X.
Voting is being held today across 121 Assembly seats in 18 districts in the first phase of the state elections. The remaining 122 seats will go to polls on November 11, and counting is scheduled for November 14.
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On one side of the contest is the incumbent NDA alliance, comprising the JD(U), BJP, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). The Mahagathbandhan, led by Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, includes the Congress, Left parties, and Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party.
With the first phase underway, both alliances are framing the election as a battle of continuity versus change and Lalu Yadav’s “roti” analogy appears to have struck a chord with voters hungry for a new narrative in Bihar’s political kitchen.
