Lalu Prasad likely to reach Patna today

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad is likely to reach Patna on Friday after a long stay in Delhi following his kidney transplant surgery in Singapore in December last year.

With the news of Prasad's arrival, RJD workers in the state capital, who have been waiting for him for a long time, are jubilant and are now preparing for his grand welcome.

''Father is coming to Patna, we have lots of work to do'', Tej Pratap Yadav, Bihar Environment, Forest & Climate Change minister and the elder son of RJD supremo, tweeted on Thursday.

According to party insiders, the RJD supremo will be in Patna for quite some days but mass meetings may be avoided due to his health issue.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met the RJD chief at the residence of his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti in New Delhi on Thursday. The meeting came after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, had met the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister in Lucknow on April 25.

RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad is expected to play an important role in uniting opposition parties ahead of the coming parliamentary and assembly polls in the state. Political observers believe that Prasad's ability to network with anti-BJP leaders is unparalleled. RJD is the largest ally in the Nitish-Kumar- led Grand alliance government in Bihar.

Kumar is already working to unite all opposition parties ahead of the coming general election. The Grand Alliance in Bihar comprises seven parties JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPIML (L), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong assembly.