As leadership crisis grips the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, most party workers are rallying round Tejashwi Yadav, the younger son of party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav who is lodged in jail due to his conviction in the multi-crore fodder scam and is battling ailments.
Party sources say that an intense power struggle is going on within the RJD, which has the maximum number of MLAs in the Bihar Assembly, but a majority of the party workers are extending support to Tejashwi whom Lalu has declared as his political heir, and not Tej Pratap or Misa Bharti. Tejashwi was made the Deputy Chief Minister in the previous “Grand Alliance” government headed by Nitish Kumar in the state.
Sources said that the ongoing power struggle may pose a grave threat to the RJD’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections next year. Any electoral setback next year may also affect its chances in the 2020 Assembly elections, they added. At present, the RJD is in alliance with the Congress and hopes to come to power after the state elections.
As Lalu is in jail, the party affairs are being looked after by Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. While Misa also takes a keen interest, everything is being done in consultation with their mother Rabri Devi. However, according to party sources, it is Tejashwi who is calling the shots, which is making Tej Pratap and Misa uncomfortable. This crisis has led to the stagnation of the party’s outreach programme.
According to a top RJD source, Tejashwi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, is the party’s de facto chief. But he is unhappy with Tej Pratap for frequently making public his displeasure about party affairs.
Sometime back, Tej Pratap had complained on social media that certain “elements” were busy sidelining him and that his mother was not listening to him. Though both brothers rubbished speculation of a rift, Tej Pratap skipped an important RJD meeting last month re-fuelling the rumours.
Tej Pratap was particularly unhappy that Tejaswhi refused to support his “padayatra” from Patna to Sitabdiara, the ancestral village of Jai Prakash Narayan. Tejaswhi, who was supposed to flag off the programme, did not turn up after keeping the crowd waiting for hours.
The speculation of a rift got validated when Lalu’s eldest daughter, Misa spoke about the differences between her two brothers. “Even all the five fingers are not of equal length. Though there are differences between my brothers, RJD is a much bigger family,” she said during a programme.
Sources say that although Tejashwi is more acceptable to the party workers than Tej Pratap is, he has not been able to take any major decisions because of the power struggle. “This is affecting the functioning of the party. We need a strong and decisive leadership, which is missing at present because of the absence of Lalu Yadav and the family rift,” he said.
Interestingly, while a majority of the party cadre favour Tejashwi, a section of the old guard, who feels sidelined, is rallying round Tej Pratap in the hope of getting tickets in the Lok Sabha elections.