Tejashwi Yadav Predicts BJP's Defeat In Karnataka Polls, Invoking "Bajrang Bali" Metaphor

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday invoked the "Bajrang Bali" metaphor to predict a less than favorable outcome for the BJP in Karnataka assembly polls. "Lord Bajrang Bali is very angry with the BJP (Bhagwan Bajrang Bali bahut naraaz hain BJP se)", was the young RJD leader's curt reply when reporters approached him with queries about his guess about poll results in the southern state, to be announced on Saturday. The allusion was, obviously, to the massive controversy that had followed promise of a clampdown on extremist organisations, made by the Congress in its election manifesto for Karnataka.

In the manifesto, Islamist organization PFI and Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, were mentioned in the same vein, evoking outrage from the BJP, the veritable political front of the 'Sangh Parivar'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at his election meetings, alleged that any action against Bajrang Dal was tantamount to an insult to "Bajrang Bali", another popular name of Lord Hanuman, and raised chants of "Bajrang Bali Ki Jai" at rally after rally.

The Congress, which is the RJD's junior ally in Bihar, has been predicted by exit polls to emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka, which is currently ruled by the BJP. Meanwhile, Yadav's father Lalu Prasad, the RJD's founding chief, who has been in the city for nearly two weeks, stepped out of wife Rabri Devi's house for the first time, to pay a visit to a tomb situated adjacent to the Patna High Court.

Old-timers were thrilled to catch a glimpse of the charismatic leader, now a pale shadow of his former ebullient self, as he offered prayers at the “High Court mazaar”, which the RJD supremo used to visit frequently till jail terms and failing health intervened. Incidentally, Prasad's arch rival-turned-ally, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is also a frequent visitor to the High Court mazaar.

The JD(U) leader, who has been travelling across the country to unite the opposition against the BJP ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls, met a delegation of Assam-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) headed by its president Badruddin Ajmal. The Assam-based AIUDF was a part of the “Mahajot”, including Congress, RJD and the Left, in the last assembly polls held in the north-eastern state.