He may be a convict undergoing imprisonment.RJD chief Lalu Yadav may be out of the electoral contest. But he is not away from politics.

Due mainly to his inimitable style and political skill, a number of politicians belonging to opposition parties have either already met him inside the jail or appeared to be in a queue to meet him ahead of the Assembly polls-2019.

Apart from RJD leaders, JMM acting president and ex-CM Hemant Soren had already met him. If these opposition leaders are to be believed, Lalu Yadav has conveyed to them his old advise-form Mahagatbandhan.

Following his advice, JMM, Congress and JVM leaders were trying to enter into an alliance on the basis of their performance in the 2014 Assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Though it is almost certain that they will enter into an alliance in more than 50 core seats, they can agree to opt for a friendly contest in rest of the seats.

Alongside, the ruling BJP is struggling to enter into an alliance with All Jharkhand Students Union, a party aspiring to spread its base is demanding more than 12 seats. This may not be acceptable to the BJP led by Chief Minister Raghubar Das. This poses a major challenge before him.

Another challenge faced by BJP  is posed by its ally-JD(U). This Bihar based party had not won a single seat in the past Assembly polls in Jharkhand though its representatives have gone on record to contest all 81 Assembly seats. Observers perceive it as JD(U)'s high aim to spread its base to gain 'all India status'.

"This can harm the electoral prospect of the BJP", thinks a JD(U) leader. None of any senior BJP is ready to accept his view."This time we will win 65 seats", said a senior BJP leader who does not want to be named.