Key EBC face set to take over as new Bihar RJD chief: Who is Mangani Lal Mandal?
Veteran socialist leader and ex-MP, Mangani Lal Mandal, who belongs to the Extremely Backward Class (EBC), is set to become the new president of the RJD's Bihar unit.
Mandal, 76, who returned to the Lalu Prasad-led RJD from the ruling JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar this January, emerged as the RJD leadership's 'natural choice' for its Bihar unit chief with the party going all out to woo the politically-crucial EBCs in the run-up to the state Assembly polls slated for October-November this year.
Mandal will succeed the outgoing state RJD chief Jagdanand Singh, a Thakur leader and close Lalu aide, who expressed his unwillingness to continue in his position, party sources said.
The RJD has been conducting its organisation elections from the block to district levels in Bihar for the last four months. Its block and district presidents had been elected, reflecting a 'balanced social combination' with 'due representation' given to leaders from various groups including the EBCs and Scheduled Castes (SCs), sources said.
For the state party president's post, whose election would take place on July 19, Mandal is the only candidate to have filed nomination. He is thus set to get elected to the post unopposed.
The state RJD chief's election would be followed by the formation of the party's state committee leading to the expected re-election of Lalu as its national president by July-end.
The RJD leadership's bid to pick Mandal, the former JD (U) national vice- president, as its new state chief months ahead of the Assembly polls assumes significance as he belongs to the EBC Dhanuk community, which accounts for over two per cent votes in Bihar. Dhanuks have been amomg top five most populous EBC groups, with the community concentrated in Madhubani, Supaul, Patna and Nalanda besides having a sizeable population in over a dozen other districts across the state.
Mandal had started his political innings under the leadership of socialist icon and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur. He was once considered among the state's leading socialist faces that include Lalu and Nitish. However, while Lalu and Nitish grew in stature in due course, Mandal remained confined to the EBC-centric, region-specific (Kosi and Mithilanchal) politics.
Mandal was first nominated to the Bihar Legislative Council in 1986 as a Lok Dal nominee when Karpoori Thakur had been the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. He had been the MLC for three consecutive terms till 2004. He had once also served as a minister in the RJD-led government.
After he switched to the JD(U), the latter had in 2004 sent Mandal to the Rajya Sabha. He contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Jhanjharpur constituency on the JD(U)'s ticket successfully. In subsequent years, he kept switching sides.
He rejoined the JD (U) before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Although he did not get the Lok Sabha poll ticket then, he was appointed as the national party vice-president. Mandal was only the second person in the JD(U) to have got this position after Prashant Kishor, who is now the Jan Suraaj Party supremo.
A senior RJD leader said: 'Mangani Lal Mandal has been the most credible EBC face. His election as new RJD chief will surely send across strong message among EBCs about RJD's efforts to practise A to Z (inclusive) politics, more so at a time when all parties have been vying with each other for votes of the EBCs, which make up about 36.1 per cent of the state's population.'
On his part, Mandal told reporters: 'It (Bihar RJD chief's post) would be a matter of great honour for me. It is a challenge and responsibility in the election year. I am thankful to the party's national president Lalu Prasad and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for it.'
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