Patna: Former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has solidified his position as the most powerful leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), sharing equal footing with party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. This significant development grants Tejashwi the authority to make crucial decisions regarding the party’s future. The announcement was made at the RJD’s national executive meeting in Patna, marking a significant milestone after a two-year hiatus.
On the sideline of the meeting, Tejashwi said, “The trust that everyone has shown in me and the responsibilities that have been given to me are big. I will perform as per the expectations of the party leaders. It is only when the party organisation is strong, accountable, and lives up to the expectations of the people, we will be able to win elections and serve the people of the state. We will win the coming assembly polls in Bihar. We have to make a new Bihar… a developed state… we have to take everyone along. We will soon intensify our membership drive.”
In the national executive, the RJD has passed a resolution which gives Tejashwi the power to ‘change the party name and symbol’ and he was declared the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
The RJD’s constitution was also amended so that there will be no tussle for party symbol and name if the party breaks in the future. According to the amendment, a party leader says, if there is a split in the RJD, then the decision of the Election Commission on the party’s name, election symbol and party flag will not be valid.
Former Bihar chief ministers Rabri Devi (L), Lalu Prasad Yadav (2-L) with former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav during the RJD’s National Executive Meeting in Patna. Photo: X/@yadavtejashwi
RJD leader Ramchandra Purve has been named as the national chief election officer of the party and Chittaranjan Gagan is selected as the assistant national chief election officer. Both are considered close to Tejashwi.
Purve, on becoming the state president of the party in June 2017, had announced Tejashwi as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. This had created a stir in the party. A senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui had objected to this and said, “Our national president [Lalu Prasad] has not issued any statement in this regard. It (Purve’s statement) is a matter of emotion. Anyone can become chief minister. It may be A or B or C.”
The party has also decided that the 2025 assembly elections will be fought on the slogan of ‘17 months versus 17 years’.
When Nitish Kumar broke alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in August 2022 and joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi became the deputy chief minister. But after 17 months, Nitish deserted Mahagathbandhan and went with his old alliance partner, the BJP. Although Tejashwi remained deputy chief for just 17 months, RJD leaders claim that he did more in 17 months than 17 year-tenure of Nitish as chief minister and hence came the slogan of 17 months versus 17 years.
‘He will take good decisions in the interest of the party’
The national executive, held just before the Bihar assembly elections due in October, is considered important.
“The party fought the 2020 assembly elections under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav and performed well. The party got the maximum number of seats. He has been leading the party since before, yesterday he was officially given the power,” RJD leader Ritu Jaiswal told The Wire.
“He did a lot of work while being the deputy chief minister for just 17 months. Gandhi Maidan, was known only for political rallies, but Tejashwi Yadav had given government jobs’ appointment letters to youths of Bihar in that very ground. His 17-month tenure shows his leadership ability and under his leadership the party will bring better results in the coming elections,” Jaiswal added.
Similarly, RJD MLA Bharat Mandal underlined that Tejashwi has become a “mature leader”. “Tejashwiji has become a politically mature leader. Now that he has got the full responsibility of the party, he will take good decisions in the interest of the party,” Mandal told The Wire.
He added, “There is unanimity on Tejashwi Yadav’s name among party leaders and party workers. The feat that Tejashwi Yadav has achieved in his 17-month tenure has increased his acceptability. That is why the people of the party have given him the right to take whatever decisions he deems appropriate, we are with him.”
Reasons behind the announcement
The announcement made in Saturday’s national executive did not surprise political observers because Tejashwi was at the forefront during the 2020 Bihar assembly elections. He had a decisive role in setting the poll narrative for the party as well as in the distribution of tickets in the 2020 assembly polls, Rajya Sabha elections and 2024 general elections.
Political analyst Mahendra Suman believes that bigger messages could have been delivered through the executive meeting, but an announcement was made which was not needed. “Tejashwi has no challenger in the RJD. He has already taken over the party. The party workers have also accepted Tejashwi as Lalu’s successor. There are small parties in the Mahagathbandhan, so no one will oppose his chief ministerial candidate. In such a situation, such an announcement has no meaning,” Suman told The Wire.
“Lalu Prasad Yadav could have given a bigger message that the party will take care of the interests of the poor, backward, Dalits and minorities. He should have brought forward his agenda and said that the party will give importance to the poor, backward and minorities in upcoming elections. This would have sent a bigger message to the people,” he added.
But the question is why did Lalu Prasad chose to announce Tejashwi as the chief ministerial candidate as well as the party’s top decision maker in such an important meeting?
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Experts believe that the reason behind this is the internal conflict within the party and the dispute over leadership within the Lalu family.
Patna-based senior journalist Faizan Ahmed told The Wire that senior party leader Jagdanand Singh, his son and MP Sudhakar Singh and his younger son, who contested the by-election from Ramgarh assembly seat, did not attend this important meeting. “Their absence is being seen as resentment. The second thing is that whenever Tejashwi gets some important responsibility, his elder brother Tej Pratap and sister Misa Bharti express reservation,” he said.
“It seems that to give a clear message to the party leaders and the family, Lalu Prasad announced in the executive that Tejashwi Yadav will lead the party,” Ahmed added.
Emphasising on the “family feud” aspect, senior journalist Deepak Mishra said, “Lalu Prasad Yadav’s health is gradually deteriorating, probably that is why he wants everything to be decided while he is still alive, so that there is no family feud over the party’s succession in his absence.”
But, interestingly, Lalu Prasad has kept the post of supremo with himself.
“Tejashwi Yadav will be the most powerful leader in Lalu Prasad Yadav’s absence, but as long as Lalu Prasad is alive, he will not give him complete freedom, so he has kept the post of supremo with himself, so that his situation does not become like that of Mulayam Singh Yadav,” Ahmed noted.
Challenges and expectations
Along with immense responsibility, there are challenges for Tejashwi and the biggest one is to increase the party’s support base.
In the 2015 assembly elections, the RJD got 18.4% votes and the party won 80 seats. In the 2020 assembly elections, the party’s vote share increased by 4.71%, but the party won only 75 seats.
The RJD’s core vote base had been Muslim Yadav (MY) but in recent years it has been seen that there is a fragmentation among them. In such a situation, to increase the support base of the party, it is necessary to connect other castes with the party.
To draw the support of other caste groups, Tejashwi started saying that his party is a party from A to Z. But, it did not benefit much on the ground.
Commenting on the caste factor, Ahmed said, “RJD’s MY equation has broken. In the Lalu era Yadavs and Muslims used to vote for the RJD, but in the last one decade that equation has become weak. On the other hand, Tejashwi’s efforts to bring other caste groups in his fold has not worked as expected. So he will need to work on it very hard.”
Party leaders claim that Tejashwi lacks connection with the people and grassroots leaders, yet they remain loyal to the party primarily due to Lalu Prasad.
“When Laluji was overseeing the functioning of the party, we would meet him very easily. There used to be 300-400 workers at his residence daily to meet him. Laluji would meet them. But, in Tejeshwi Yadav’s case even MLAs cannot meet him without prior appointment, if they have no good rapport with Tejashwi Yadav,” a party MLA told The Wire.
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Similarly, Mishra suggested that Tejashwi is “opposite of” Lalu Prasad, however, adding that “in 2020 assembly polls and other polls after that, wherever RJD gets votes, they are in the name of Tejashwi.” “Lalu had connections with the public. But Tejashwi lacks this.”
Despite Tejashwi declaring the RJD as a party of A to Z, a few castes are over represented in ticket distribution.
In 2020 Bihar assembly elections, RJD had fielded Yadavs on 58 seats which was highest among other castes whereas 26 tickets were given to EBC (Extremely Backward Class) and just 18 tickets to Muslims. The party distributed 16 tickets to Scheduled Castes (SC).
With Tejashwi at the helm, party leaders want some drastic change in ticket distribution pattern so that different castes and communities are fairly represented.
Mandal said, “The caste census report is an eye-opener and we hope that Tejashwi Yadav will distribute tickets in the light of these figures. In the past, the party was not able to do justice to many sections, now that the figures are out, we expect that Tejashwi Yadav will do justice in giving tickets to extremely backward classes, Dalits, other castes of OBC and minorities. Because, the party cannot expand without including them.”
RJD leader Yusuf Ansari believes that the party has made mistakes in the past in giving tickets to Muslims, which Tejashwi will correct.
“The Hindutva card was being played all over the country, so Tejashwi Yadav took this decision [of giving fewer tickets to Muslims] against his wishes, but this time, we hope, the number of Muslim seats will increase in the assembly elections,” he said.
