Form of words:
Patna: The rift between Lalu Prasad’s sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav is increasing, despite Lalu Prasad repeatedly Attempt To portray their bond as Lord Krishna and Arjuna respectively Mahabharata.
However, the latest point of clash between the brothers came to the fore on Saturday when Tej Pratap called upon supporters of his own organization Chhatra Janshakti Parishad to work for the victory of Congress candidate Atirek Kumar in the October 30 bypoll to Kusheshwar Asthan assembly constituency. pitted him against the Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Ganesh Bharti led by Tejashwi.
And yet, in Tarapur assembly constituency, which is due for bypolls on the same day, Tej Pratap and his supporters are supporting RJD candidate Arun Kumar.
The RJD and the Congress are allies under the umbrella of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or grand alliance, but both have fielded candidates for both these by-elections. The RJD this time denied the Congress the Kusheshwar Asthan seat as its candidate lost the 2020 assembly election.
Both these by-polls were due to the death of two MLAs of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United).
Read also: Lalu and son again – Tej Pratap furious over the removal of colleague, indirect attack on Tejashwi
never ending sibling rivalry
The rivalry between vagabond Tej Pratap and media savvy Tejashwi began in 2015, when both were made ministers in Nitish Kumar’s government as political novices. At that time, JD(U) and RJD had formed a grand alliance to stop the march of BJP across the country. But Tejashwi, the younger brother and youngest of nine siblings, was made deputy CM, and thus had his seniority.
The rivalry has intensified time and again, but over the past two months, it seems there has been no backlash after Tej Pratap openly accused Tejashwi of taking the ailing Lalu hostage. The Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly replied that his father’s personality was well known. “He is the person who arrested LK Advani (he was the chief minister of Bihar during Lalu’s 1990 Rath Yatra) and is not capable of being held hostage,” Tejashwi said.
Both the brothers have not been in the same building for the last two months. Hasanpur MLA Tej Pratap has refused to attend legislator meetings convened by party leader Tejashwi to discuss the by-election, and has subsequently ruled out the use of the party’s emblem in his brother’s functions.
His mother, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi had to intervene – she flew from Delhi in an attempt to resolve their differences. But when they met on Saturday, Tej Pratap demanded the removal of state RJD chief Jagdanand Singh and Tejashwi’s political advisor Sanjay Yadav, party sources told ThePrint. He holds the two responsible for their separation in the RJD.
Rabri returned to Delhi the same day, but without making any blunders – that Lalu’s much-awaited return to Patna on October 20 after three-and-a-half years in Ranchi for the fodder scam was not going to happen.
“The doctors have advised her not to go,” Rabri Devi told ThePrint, and declined to talk about her attempts at reconciliation with her sons.
“It is disappointing. But I am sure that his appeal among Dalit masses will remain with us even when he is not here,” said Shyam Rajak, national general secretary of RJD.
He said the ailing former CM had to walk with aid on the day Lalu Prasad attended a function to mark the first death anniversary of late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan earlier this month. Rajak expressed ignorance of Tej Pratap supporting the Congress.
RJD MLA Bhai Virendra declined to comment on Tej Pratap, but said: “For us, the RJD is about Tejashwi Yadav.”
Virendra’s words are a reflection of the fact that the battle for Lalu’s political successor has long been etched in the minds of RJD leaders and supporters.
The RJD did well in the 2020 elections under Tejashwi’s leadership, emerging as the single largest party with 75 seats in the 243-member assembly. But the Grand Alliance fell 15 seats behind the JD(U)-BJP alliance’s figure of 125, helping Nitish Kumar stay on as chief minister.
“Tej Pratap will always be troubled, causing embarrassment to the party and the family at regular intervals,” said an RJD MLA on condition of anonymity. But the party will continue to ignore him.”
Read also: Message from Patna Poster War: Caste crisis for Nitish, Tej Pratap ’embarrassment’ for RJD
cut Congress down
By-elections are rarely an accurate indicator of a state’s larger political drift. But a lot is at stake for the parties in Bihar.
If the RJD manages to capture both the seats, it will further narrow the gap between the alliances, and demoralize the JD(U).
Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party has split, now heads the faction named after his father Ram Vilas Paswan, while his uncle Pashupati Paras presides over the new Rashtriya Janshakti Party and is supported by several senior leaders. The Election Commission of India has banned both from using the familiar ‘house’ symbol of the LJP and from allotting new ones. Chirag will now have to prove that he can still show it to Nitish Kumar by snatching a chunk of votes from the ally turned foe JD(U).
Congress has to prove that it is still relevant as an ally. As a sideshow, this will be the first time that Tejashwi Yadav will be face-to-face in a campaign against former CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who has joined the Congress and is known for his oratory skills.
After Tejashwi won 70 seats under the seat-sharing arrangement of the Grand Alliance in 2020, the Congress has begun to cut in size, and has seen it win just 19. He ignored Congress’ threats to pull out of the alliance and refused to replace it with Kusheshwar. Then.
“He wants to send a message to the Congress that it can do without their support,” the RJD MLA quoted above said, adding that he was trying to ensure that the Congress would not demand so much in future talks.
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
Read also: Dynasties Day in Bihar – Tejashwi gets Father Lalu’s approval as Chirag ‘shows’ to uncle
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