In his heyday, Lalu Prasad was said to be number one to 10 in the RJD. Now, as party men and confidants desert him in the wake of the RJD?s poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, Prasad will have to fill all those slots in his party ? and more.

Eight-time MLA and former RJD minister Ramai Ram, and RJD MLC Dinesh Prasad Singh, among others, joined the JD(U) on Monday.

Ram, who resigned as MLA from Bochaha before the recently held Lok Sabha polls after quitting RJD and switching over to the Congress, was a senior member in the Lalu-Rabri Cabinet for over 13 years.

He had unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket from Gopalganj and had recently resigned from the party accusing its state leaders of hatching a conspiracy to defeat him.

Ram had criticised Lalu Prasad for ?suppressing his political abilities? and not sending him to Lok Sabha where he said he wanted to raise the cause of the Dalits and extremely backward castes.

Others who joined the ruling JD(U) after resigning from the primary membership of the RJD included state vice-president Arshad Parvez, state secretary Aftab Alam and Phulwarisharif Nagar Parishad chairman Khalida Yusuf.

The latest round of desertions from the RJD follows the recent exit of over a dozen RJD leaders including spokesperson Shyam Rajak.

Till he left, Shyam Rajak was known to be the most articulate voice in the RJD after Lalu Prasad against the Nitish Kumar government. It was also not too long ago that former Barh MP Vijay Krishna, who has also switched loyalty to the JD(U), had earned the title of ?giant killer? in the RJD after his famous 2004 victory over Nitish Kumar.

Rajak in particular has surprised political pundits with his move. It was well known that he considered Lalu Prasad to be his mentor and guardian; his marriage reception was arranged at 1 Anne Marg during Lalu Prasad?s tenure as Bihar chief minister. Rajak also served as a minister in Rabri Devi Cabinet.

But the exodus from the RJD had begun even before the parliamentary election with senior RJD leaders, Captain Jaynarayan Nishad, Mangani Lal Mandal and Mahabali Singh, switching over to the JD(U). Nishad, Mandal and Singh are now JD(U) MPs from Muzaffarpur, Jhanjharpur and Karakat respectively. RJD minority cell head Nemtullah had also left RJD for the JD(U).