Different Strokes in Lalu Clan

The fragile health of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad has worsened the infighting within his clan with his second daughter Rohini Acharya walking out on the family claiming to have been insulted and abused. The targets of her ire are two aides of her brother Tejashwi who is Lalu’s chosen political heir. The magnitude of the RJD-led opposition’s debacle in the Bihar election has brought the family feud out in the open. The problem for Lalu is that he needs to secure Tejashwi’s leadership from the fallout of the poll wipeout while ensuring rivalries between his children are reined in.

It’s a tough ask as Lalu is no longer the force he was and poor health has confined him to his residence. In the past, he could easily work phones and settle matters. Not so any more. Tejashwi hinted that demands within the family influenced ticket distribution. The suggestion that Rohini wrested a Lok Sabha nomination in 2024—she lost the election—only confirms tensions within the family. Speaking at a party meeting where he was elected leader of the legislative party, Tejashwi wondered whether he was to take care of family demands or the party.

Lalu’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti successfully contested the Pataliputra seat in the Lok Sabha election and has kept her distance from Rohini’s criticism of RJD’s functioning. Three other daughters, understood to have sided with Rohini, have not gone public. At the peak of his powers as Bihar chief minister, Lalu’s word was law. His problem is that RJD’s reduced circumstances limits sops like legislative council membership to appease unhappy members of his clan.

BJP Has A Fight in UP

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are quite dissimilar even though both states saw the rise of Mandal stalwarts like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad. For one, while the M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) combination is a significant vote bank for the Samajwadi Party, the demographic distribution is not as concentrated as in Bihar. This makes the role of non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs) even more crucial to the electoral results in UP. Akhilesh Yadav delivered an unexpected jolt to BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with a shrewd selection of candidates that worked the caste matrix in his favour. As compared to Bihar, BJP has a harder task in UP.

Punjab Farm Fires

A dip in farm fires in Punjab is being touted as a major success story that should ease Delhi’s pollution problems. The claim that the reduction is to the tune of 90 per cent sounds impressive but a little misleading. Punjab recorded more than 4,500 farm fires from mid-September to mid-November, while the comparable figure for Haryana is in hundreds. It is Haryana that has brought down the overall incidence of farm fires significantly, while Punjab still has work to do. While commentators are quick to take aim at Diwali fireworks, they find it convenient to skip a comparison of Haryana and Punjab.

Not Trading Interests

India’s decision to import as much as 10 per cent of its LPG imports from the US in 2026 can be read as an indication of its preparedness to hike energy sourcing from America and reducing Russian imports. But it would be wrong to read it merely in terms of US tariff pressure as Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal engages with a wide variety of private and state players to expand market access for Indian exporters. Efforts are in high gear to close trade agreements with New Zealand and the European Union. It is apparent that India wants the tariff standoff to end; it is not holding its breath.

Field Marshal Must Not Miscalculate

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi’s warning to Pakistan that Operation Sindoor was just an 88-hour trailer of what could happen if Pakistan forgot the lessons of the May 7-10 conflict did not necessarily have a connection with the November 10 terror attack at Red Fort. But it was certainly intended to remind the neighbour that India’s doctrine on terrorism has changed. Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir should not count on his improved relations with the Trump White House to assume a level of immunity from Indian retaliation. That might be a serious miscalculation.

Yes, SIR in Congress

On November 17, Congress held a meeting of party leaders from states where the Election Commission is due to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of elector rolls. The meeting is evidence, if any were required, that Congress will continue to cling to Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” campaign even if the Bihar elections demonstrated that the issue does not matter at the ground level. Expect Parliament’s Winter Session to be disrupted on the issue just as it was during the Monsoon Session.

Stabilising Ties with China

Meanwhile India’s relations with China are stable even if progress is incremental. The recent round of military commander-level talks was marked by commitments on both sides to adhere to patrolling agreements reached in October last year. The challenge of troop reduction remains but both sides are looking to de-emphasise areas of discord, at least for a while till respective relations with the US settle into some degree of normalcy. The equilibrium with China is important in the context of ties with Pakistan being volatile and unpredictable.