Tejashwi named as INDIA bloc's CM candidate for Bihar polls
Patna | The opposition INDIA bloc on Thursday declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav its chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar assembly polls, in what is being seen as a last-ditch effort to put an end to squabbles and project unity ahead of the elections.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who has been in Patna since Wednesday to resolve differences with the RJD, stated that the decision had the approval of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
Addressing a crowded press conference here, Gehlot also said Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni and leaders from other sections of society will be deputy CMs if the INDIA bloc comes to power in the state, "keeping in mind the complex social structure of Bihar".
"We have decided, after consultations with our national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, besides all coalition partners who are here, to name Tejashwi Yadav as our chief ministerial candidate," Gehlot said.
Sahani, a 45-year-old former Bollywood set designer, entered politics in 2014 when he campaigned for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, only to allege, later, that the party had promised to grant Scheduled Castes status to his community but failed to fulfil the same.
He founded VIP in 2015, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress-RJD combine, but returned to the NDA a year later, alleging that Tejashwi Yadav had "backstabbed" him in a seat-sharing deal.
In the 2020 assembly polls, VIP won four seats, and though Sahni himself lost from Simri Bakhtiarpur, he was inducted into the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
His abrasive campaign in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls of 2022, when he openly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, had the BJP gunning for him and led to his expulsion from the cabinet, while all VIP MLAs joined the BJP.
He was back in the INDIA bloc in the thick of the Lok Sabha polls last year.
Incidentally, demands have been made by a section of Congress leaders in Bihar that it would like one of its leaders, preferably a Muslim or a Dalit, as a deputy CM if the multi-party coalition came to power.
Speaking at the same press conference, Yadav, who had led the Mahagathbandhan in the last assembly polls, thanked his allies for reposing his trust in him again and said, "It was not a big issue for us, but since there was so much media speculation, we decided to make it clear."
The 35-year-old leader, often dubbed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "crown prince of jungle raj", addressed the criticism head-on.
"I would like to tell the people of Bihar that Tejashwi will never compromise on corruption and will spare nobody accused of a crime, be it his own shadow or anyone with influence," said Yadav, who has enjoyed two short tenures as deputy CM.
The RJD leader also alleged that the bogey of jungle raj was a "propaganda" by the BJP, which shares power in Bihar, where "not a day passes that murders and rapes do not take place. Victims of sexual assault die for want of timely medical help".
Later, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, who was present at the press conference, told reporters, "We have taken the lead by announcing our face. Now it is for the NDA to stop equivocating on the issue and declaring whom it proposes to make the CM if it forms the government".
Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the second most powerful leader in the NDA after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently said the coalition would contest the assembly polls "under the leadership" of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), but "the legislators would decide" who will occupy the top post after the elections.
The remark has been seen by many as a sign that the BJP, which had outperformed the JD(U) in the last assembly elections, now wanted to have its own chief minister in the only Hindi heartland state where it is yet to occupy the seat of power.
Meanwhile, the NDA insisted that attempts at putting up a united face notwithstanding, cracks within the INDIA bloc were there for all to see.
The BJP shared on its X handle a photograph of the poster put up at the press conference, with a huge image of Yadav, highlighting the fact "there are not even thumbnails of other INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi".
Independent MP Pappu Yadav, who supports the Congress but has been critical of the RJD, said, "Dalits and the extremely backward classes would vote for the INDIA bloc only because of Rahul Gandhi. His image should have been there. Alliance partners like Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML Liberation general secretary) should also have been in the poster."
Union minister Chirag Paswan, whose LJP(R) is the NDA's third largest constituent, said, "Our campaign has already picked up. My voice has gone hoarse addressing rallies. But leaders of the INDIA bloc are yet to step out of their rooms".
JD(U) MLC and spokesman Neeraj Kumar called Tejashwi Yadav "an angry child who has been handed over a lollipop" and recounted "massive defeats of 2019 and 2024" when the RJD leader was spearheading the INDIA bloc's campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.
