His rebellion is sending a wrong message to the party’s cadre as he is supporting parallel candidates in many constituencies.
New Delhi: Resentment is brewing in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over the leadership’s inability to deal with the rebellion of Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of party’s national president Lalu Prasad Yadav, in Bihar.
RJD sources said that the open defiance by Tej Pratap Yadav is sending a wrong message among the cadre as well as the electorate, adversely affecting the poll prospects of Mahagathbandhan candidates all over the state. Tej Pratap, who is unhappy with Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son of Lalu, for not giving tickets to candidates of his choice in Sheohar and Jehanabad constituencies, is openly supporting “parallel” candidates in many constituencies.
An RJD source said: “Tejashwi Yadav, this is to be noted, is calling the shots in the absence of Lalu Yadav, who is serving jail term in the multi-crore fodder scam. However, a strong lobby is opposing him and rallying behind Tej Pratap, settling scores with Tejashwi.”
“Division within the Lalu family is adversely affecting the morale of the party workers all over the state, who were hopeful that the Mahagathbandhan would fare well in the Lok Sabha elections. The situation would have been different had Laluji not been in jail. The edge which we had got over the NDA after we finalised seat-sharing in Mahagathband (of RJD and Congress) is now vanishing due to the family dispute,” he added.
The RJD has given tickets in Sheohar and Jehanabad, but Tej Pratap is insisting that “his men” Angraj Kumar Singh and Chandra Prakash respectively be fielded from the two seats. Tej Pratap has floated a “Lalu-Rabri Morcha”, which, according to him, is the real “RJD”, putting the party in a catch-22 situation. Tej Pratap also held a road show in favour of Angraj in Sheohar constituency. In Hajipur too, Tej Pratap has fielded his own candidate Balender Das.
Leading the resentment is Ali Asharaf Fatmi, a senior leader and former minister, who has resigned from the party after he was not given the party ticket from the Darbhanga constituency. His move followed after he was suspended from the party for six years. Fatmi has now decided to contest as an Independent from the neighbouring Madhubani Lok Sabha constituency.
Fatmi, while criticising the RJD for becoming a family-run party, raised questions over the leadership’s silence on Tej Pratap’s activities. “He (Tej Pratap) has been indulging in all sorts of anti-party activities and has even fielded his own nominees against the RJD’s candidates, but no action has been taken against him,” he told reporters.
Fatmi has been associated with the party for about 30 years. He had represented the Darbhanga constituency for four times. He wanted to contest from Madhubani, but the seat was allotted to Vikassheel Insaan Party, an ally of the Mahagathbandhan.
The contest has become interesting in Madhubani as a senior leader of Congress, Shakeel Ahmed, has already filed his nomination from the seat as an Independent candidate.