Tejashwi missing from RJD event poster, his aide faces Tej Pratap flak as Bihar plot thickens

Tensions have risen in Bihar politics with a cold war seemingly brewing within the RJD with  reports of infighting over who should be made the national president of the party. The equation between Lalu Prasad’s sons, Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, was called into question after the image of Tejashwi, the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly, was missing from posters of an important meeting of RJD’s student wing where Tej Pratap was the chief guest, reported  India Today. Several large banners and posters were put up in the RJD headquarters at Patna carrying pictures of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, former chief minister Rabri Devi and party leader Tej Pratap Yadav. The office-bearers of RJD, district presidents and university presidents also attended the student wing meeting. According to Hindustan Times, speculations have now arisen about Tej Pratap, who has been critical of the state president Jagdanand Singh, being keen on playing a more assertive role in the party and trying to increase his clout to compete with his younger brother Tejashwi, who has gained acceptance as the party’s face. “After 10 pm in Bihar, the atmosphere gets disturbed. Nowadays bureaucracy is ruining Bihar. No work is done in Bihar without bribes. Bihar’s health minister did not step out of his house throughout the COVID period,” said Tej Pratap Yadav while addressing the meeting, reported ANI. He further called senior RJD leader Jagdanand Singh “Hitler” in the meeting of the student wing. On Sunday, during the party event, Tej Pratap was quoted by Aaj Tak as saying, “Jagadanand Singh goes everywhere and speaks like Hitler. There is a huge difference between when I used to come to the party office earlier and now. The gate of the party office was always open when father was here but many people started imposing his will after he was gone. The chair is not someone’s legacy.” It is important to note that Jagadanand Singh is considered to be a close aid of Tejashwi Yadav and that this is not the first time Tej Pratap has expressed his displeasure with Singh. When asked about the missing photo of Tejashwi Yadav from the party’s posters, Tej Pratap said, “Tejashwi remains in our hearts. How does it matter if the banners and posters do not carry his photo? Tejashwi is my Arjun. He is going to be the chief minister.” The BJP, meanwhile, taking an interest in this situation, has advised the RJD to make Tej Pratap the party national president. As per Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala, Bihar BJP leader Arvind Kumar Singh quipped that injustice was being done to Tej Pratap, as he, being the elder son of Lalu Yadav, should have been the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly instead of Tejashwi. The BJP leader added that to undo this “injustice”, Lalu Prasad has to either make Tej Pratap the national president of RJD or make his elder daughter Misa Bharti the party’s national president. However, Arvind also criticised Tej Pratap for calling Jagadanand Singh “Hitler”, saying that the process of insulting senior leaders in RJD, which used to go on under Lalu’s rule, “is still going on”. With inputs from agencies