Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s second daughter Rohini Acharya is contesting from the Saran Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, while Lalu Prasad Yadav has filed his nomination papers from the Rashtriya Jansambhavna Party (RJP).

Puzzled? Meet the other ‘Lalu’ from Saran, who is contesting the general election for the third time in a row. The 45-year-old is a veteran in this field, having fought 15 different polls — right from ward councillors to MLAs and MPs in the last 20 years.

He filed his nomination papers last week. His entry in the poll fray has added a dash of colour to the otherwise aggressive contest for Saran, as Rohini and the BJP candidate, former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy battle it out in front of the masses on the campaign trail.

Any suggestion to the other Lalu that he has made the polls interesting invites immediate reaction. “This is no joke. I am a serious candidate fighting the election on serious issues like revival of the Marhaura sugar mill, improvement in health and education facilities in the constituency,” he asserted.

Insinuate that he is just a duplicate of the ‘real Lalu, the RJD chief’ and he flares up.

“The RJD’s Lalu Prasad knows about me. He had held me as one of the reasons behind the defeat of his wife Rabri Devi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. I had got around 10,000 votes then and she had lost by approximately 40,000 votes to Rudy. I received over 9,000 votes in 2019. People know me. Moreover, my surname is Yadav, while his surname is Prasad,” he told The Telegraph.

Refuting that he was a copy of Lalu Prasad, he said it was rather a coincidence and a quirk of fate that he was born at Jado Rahimpur village under Marhaura police station in Saran and his parents named him ‘Lalu Prasad Yadav’.

“A few RJD leaders met me. They persuaded me to meet Lalu ji in Patna. But I refused because I knew he would ask me not to contest the polls,” he added.

Asked the other Lalu how he would compete with Rohini or Rudy and he asserted that he has no issues with any candidate. “They are also contestants and I am also a contestant. They are doing their work, I am doing mine.”

He has not started canvassing so far. “The Election Commission is yet to allot the election symbol to me. It will take a couple of days and then I will take to the field. The entire poll system is heavily loaded in favour of bigger parties,” the other Lalu said.

While this Lalu has studied till Class XII, the RJD chief is an LLB. He works as a munshi or advocate’s clerk in Marhaura and is also a farmer.

This Lalu does get the benefit of being the namesake of the stalwart leader who changed the dynamics of politics in Bihar and is still a force to reckon with.

Saran votes on May 20.