Political manoeuvres ensured parliamentarian Lalu Prasad Yadav's victory in the chief minister-ship battle, against seasoned Bihar leader Ram Sundar Das, who was close to Janta party stalwarts like S.N.

This was followed by an internal election within the Janata dal for chief minister post.

The fight was between Ram sundar Das (supported by PM VP Singh) and Lalu Yadav (supported by Deputy PM Devi Lal).

Sensing a strong opponent, Lalu requested Chandra Shekhar to ask Ragunath Jha to contest, which tilted the election in his favour.

In the election, Yadav won narrowly over Das by a vote of 59 to 56.