Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: Lalu’s brother-in-arms, first mover of NREGA, is no more

Singh’s relationship with Lalu, which lasted 32 years after the death of Karpoori Thakur, started fraying with Lalu in jail and his sons taking charge of the RJD affairs.

On April 17, 1999, during the discussion on the vote of confidence moved by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, members entered into a heated argument on whether then Orissa CM Giridhar Gamang, who had not quit his Lok Sabha seat, could vote.

It was a simple rule cited by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD leader and a second-term Lok Sabha member, that proved to be the clincher: after the Speaker has put a motion to vote, he said, the voting takes…