PATNA, March 25 -- What even poll strategist and the then senior JD-U functionary Prashant Kishor could not do in 2018, JD-U on its own did in November 2022 Patna University students' union(PUSU) elections, with the candidates backed by the party having a near clean sweep winning the seats of president, vice president, joint secretary and treasurer.

More than two years later, as Patna University again prepares for students' body election on March 29 after a lot of delay and deliberations, JD-U, the party heading the ruling dispensation in the state, is missing from the scene altogether.

Last time, JD-U backed candidates had won four of the five central panel seats -- first in PU history -- and later the winners also had an audience with...