And which leader has he by passed bro?
He was along with ALL the ODM MPs in Vihiga ( Omulele and Ottichilo)
He had the governor and MPs from Busia
and he is with local leaders including MPs in Mumias (plus governor who is busy organizing for Kakamega).
Don't believe the media.
What Raila decided is NOT to promote any leader and appear to be endorsing that one against his opponents in ODM. Note that it was one of the issues raised by the MPs Namwamba tried to hoodwink. Raila accepted that appearances can be deceptive and hence the new arrangement.
If I were Raila I would not ignore RV this time. I think there are more votes to get there now that Ruto's magic has waned.
Sounds like Raila going directly to the people delusion he had in RV. So many such rallies and he ended up with 2% of Kalenjin vote. I don't think Raila can by-pass luhya leaders directly to it's people. So far for me he has Oparanya has his only key asset down there.