Patna, New Delhi:
Months after a resounding defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Lalu Yadav is on a high again. Fresh from the victory in the assembly bypolls in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief sees his political capital rising substantially, a point he made to former ally Sonia Gandhi when he met her on Saturday.
It was a triumphant return for Bihar's veteran politician two days after the RJD-LJP combine swept the bypolls to 18 assembly seats.
And Lalu, who had been lying low for the last few months since the poor show in the general elections, made a rather unexpected comment.
"I agree that during our previous tenure in Bihar our party has made a lot of mistakes. I want to apologise and assure the people of Bihar that those mistakes will never be repeated," said Lalu.
The assembly bypoll victory comes as a relief for Lalu trying to find lost political ground before next year's assembly elections.
It also improves his stock in Delhi to project himself as a political force.
Before coming to Patna, Lalu met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss future electoral tie-ups and made all the right noises.
"The result of the bypolls were great and everyone congratulated me after they were announced. In Bihar, Ramvilas and I are together, if more secular forces want to join us such as the Left or the Congress, they can," said Lalu.
While politically things may be looking up for Lalu, on the personal front it's not so rosy. Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee has sought a CBI probe against him on allegations of land for railway jobs.