News Analysis India

Tag: Tejashwi Yadav

  • RJD chief Lalu’s son Tej Pratap lashes out at party prez in Bihar, calls Akash Yadav’s removal ‘against the constitution of party’

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Hours after the state president of RJD students wing Akash Yadav was replaced by Gagan Kumar by the party’s state president Jagdanand Singh, Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav targetted Singh yet again on Wednesday, terming the removal of Akash Yadav against the Constitution of Party.

    Akash Yadav is said to be closest to Tej Pratap Yadav and had recently put a poster at the party office in Patna in which the picture of Tejashwi Yadav- the leader of opposition in the state assembly, was missing.

    The poster had created instant political euphoria within and outside the RJD promoting the party to remove the poster.

    An RJD supporter had also blackened the face of Akash Yadav for daring to put up a poster without Tejashwi’s photo.

    On Wednesday, Jagdanand Singh went to the residence of former CM Rabri Devi, where he met with Tejashwi Yadav for half an hour. Singh returned to the party office and appointed Gagan Kumar to replace Akash Yadav as the state president of RJD students wing.

    Responding against Akash Yadav’s removal without notice, Tej Pratap Yadav in the late evening turned vocal. Taking to his official Twitter handle,Tej Pratap Yadav revolted against the removal.

    “Without a notice, removal of any party office-bearer is against the Constitution of RJD”, Tej Pratap Yadav taunted said targeting Jagdanand Singh.

    He went further and accused Singh of taking such a step following the advice of a “Non-resident advisor”.

    This was not the first instance when the infighting within the RJD was displayed. Earlier, Tej Pratap Yadav had lashed out at Jagdanand Singh comparing him to Hitler in working in the party. He had said that the post in the party was not the fiefdom to anyone. After Tej Pratap Yadav’s outbursts, Jagdanand Singh didn’t come to the party office for many days.

    Singh was allegedly so annoyed at being compared to Hitler by Tej Pratap Yadav that he didn’t come to unfurl the national flag on August 15 in the party office.

    In Singh’s absence, Tejashwi Yadav unfurled the national flag for the first time going beyond the party’s tradition. Sources from the party said that factionalism within the party is brewing gradually.

    JDU senior leader Niraj Kumar taking a jibe at RJD said that factionalism in the RJD is not now unknown to all and sundry.

    “This is the party of a family for a family in particular. Infighting in RJD is growing and established now”, Kumar mocked.

    Tej Pratap Yadav is known for his outspoken habit and has always hogged media attention because of his controversial statements.

  • Tej Pratap threatens journalists over poster row involving brother Tejashwi

    By ANI

    PATNA: Amid the controversy over posters and banners of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) not carrying party leader Tejashwi Yadav’s photo, elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav came live on his Facebook handle on Monday and angrily threatened to file “FIR, Defamation, and PIL” against the journalists highlighting the controversy.

    Tej Pratap while challenging the journalists, said, “what is the position of you people? I will file PIL and FIR against all of you having portals, I will call my lawyer and file an FIR, Defamation, and PIL on everyone, The sold media of Bihar should listen that I will file a case of defamation against you, I will do what I say”.

    While slamming the media, Tej Pratap Yadav took the names of many journalists, who according to him have done malicious propaganda against him and threatened those journalists with FIR, Public Interest Litigation, and defamation.

    Tej Pratap Yadav asked whether the media created a ruckus when Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, and his photo were missing from the poster at the time of the election.

    “Today media is reminded of the banner, where was the media when Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, and Tej Pratap’s photo was missing from the posters during the election, where was the media then, was it sleeping?,” said Tej Pratap.

    “The opponents have realized that the brother Tej And Tejasvi are leaving no stone unturned to take Bihar to the zenith of success, hence they are creating rumours,” said Tej Pratap.

    “People who are jealous that Tejashvi is my Arjun, let them be jealous,” added Tej Pratap.

    Tej Pratap Yadav addressed the meeting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) student wing in Patna on Sunday.

    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. However, Tejashwi Yadav’s pictures were missing from the posters.

    This surfaced a controversy in the political atmosphere in Bihar regarding a fight for supremacy in the party between the two brothers Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.

    “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,” Tej Pratap Yadav told reporters on Sunday after the meeting.

  • If there can be census for cats and dogs, why not one for OBC community: Tejashwi Yadav to PM Modi

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Reiterating for continued demand of a caste-based census, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday questioned PM Modi about the lack of one for people belonging to the OBC category.

    Tejashwi took to his Twitter handle and said that BJP supported caste census in both the houses of Bihar, but in the Parliament itself, the minister of state, who also belongs to a backward caste, announced against conducting it.

    “Why does the central government not want to conduct the OBC census?  Why is BJP nurturing so much hatred for the people of backward or extreme backward classes? he asked, lashing out at the Centre.

    READ MORE | No Census of castes other than SC and ST, says Centre in Parliament

    Slamming the BJP, he also questioned why a census of animals like elephants and horses, dogs, cats, lions, among others can be carried out but not one for those hailing from the OBC category.

    He added that unless the actual number of backward classes is not known, welfare schemes for them cannot be formulated.

    “How will their educational, social, political, and economic betterment happen?  How will the budget be allocated in proportion to the numbers of people of OBC and extremely poor classes without census? Our party has fought a long battle for the caste census and will continue to fight,” Tejashwi said.

    The RJD in Bihar has been demanding a caste-based census for a long time. After RJD, the ruling JD-U has also advocated for it for the OBC community and other backward classes.

    Resolutions to this effect were adopted and passed unanimously in the Bihar Assembly in 2019 and 2020.

    Local political experts said that denial of BJP-led central government in conducting caste census has proven to be a major blow for both the RJD and the JD-U.

    They opine that JD-U’s opposition to the New Population Policy law enacted by the UP government led the BJP to deny the conduct of caste census. 

  • Frail-looking Lalu Prasad Yadav addresses RJD workers, slams Narendra Modi-Nitish Kumar duo

    By PTI
    PATNA: A frail-looking RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav Monday addressed his first political meeting in a long time, castigating the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and Nitish Kumar administration in Bihar for their “many failures” and predicting a bright future for the regional party under his son Tejashwi Yadav.

    Appearing on national television to mark the silver jubilee of the party he founded in 1997 after breaking away from the Janata Dal, Prasad, who is suffering from many ailments and convalescing at his MP daughter Misa Bharti’s residence in New Delhi, recalled his struggles for OBC quota and the fight for the rights of the weaker sections.

    Snappy wisecracks were missing from the speech he delivered virtually for scores of RJD workers and leaders at the party’s state headquarters in Patna who were waiting for a glimpse of their leader for a long time since his incarceration after conviction in the fodder scam.

    “GST and demonetisation as also corona have created an economic crisis. Now, there is the threat of destroying the social fabric. After Ayodhya, some people are talking about Mathura,” Prasad, a strident critic of the BJP, said without naming the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Rubbishing the “jungle raj” accusation levelled by his rivals against the governments presided over by him and his wife Rabri Devi, the RJD leader claimed it stemmed from the anger of his opponents as the poor and weaker sections got their due.

    “We ensured that the poor and the weaker sections reached polling booths. They got angry as the poor got their due,” he asserted.

    He criticised the Centre over privatisation of PSUs.

    “Even Railways is gradually being privatised. This will result in severe unemployment and economic crisis,” he said.

    Rising fuel prices and inflation have already broken the backbone of the common man, said the RJD supremo.

    He attacked the Nitish Kumar government over “rampant corruption”, alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis and “four murders” taking place in the state every day.

    “Lakhs and lakhs of people are being reduced to migrant labourers because of lack of employment,” he said.

    He lavished praise on his younger son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the leader of the opposition, for astutely helming the party during the assembly elections in 2020.

    “Frankly, I had never expected this from him. He safely anchored the RJD’s boat (naiya paar lagayi). RJD has a bright future,” Prasad said.

    RJD is the single largest party in the 243-member Bihar assembly though the JD(U)-BJP alliance governs the state.

    Prasad also had a word of praise for his elder son Tej Pratap who, he said, made a “forceful speech” at the event.

    The RJD president said he was instrumental in making five prime ministers and his party was still strong with its members also in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

    The RJD boss, known for breathing fire and brimstone while making political speeches, in his restrained addressess, credited his wife Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, and Tejashwi for his being alive.

    “But for them, I would have perished in Ranchi (where he was incarcerated in the fodder scame cases). Doctors at AIIMS here also took great care of me,” Prasad, who slurred at times, said.

    He promised RJD workers and leaders that he will overcome whatever remained of the illness and visit Bihar soon.

    “I will come to Patna soon…not only Patna, I will mark my attendance in all districts of Bihar soon. Please don’t lose patience,” he told them.

  • Tejashwi, Tej Pratap take Sputnik jabs; face NDA taunts over choosing ‘foreign’ brand

    By PTI
    PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who had been facing flak from the ruling NDA in Bihar for his reluctance to get vaccinated against COVID-19, on Wednesday took the jab along with elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav.

    Both the sons of RJD national president Lalu Prasad took their Sputnik shots at the Medanta hospital here.

    “We took the Sputnik vaccine, A vaccine is a vaccine. What difference does it make whether it is Indian or foreign”, Yadav told reporters afterwards.

    पटना स्थित मेदांता अस्पताल में अपने भाई @yadavtejashwi के साथ कोरोना का टीका लगवाया।आप सब भी लगवाएँ। pic.twitter.com/PigLmFACgi
    — Tej Pratap Yadav (@TejYadav14) June 30, 2021

    Minutes after the two took the shots, former minister and JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar issued a sarcastic video statement.

    “They are born in a rich family, to a father with tainted background who is a convict in a case of economic offence. No wonder they find Sputnik, developed in Russia, and not indigenous Covishield or Covaxin, to their taste”, the JD(U) leader remarked, making an oblique reference to Lalu Prasads involvement in the fodder scam.

    ALSO READ | Congress should be fulcrum of any national coalition against NDA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

    Sushil Kumar Modi, a senior BJP leader, and former deputy chief minister, came out with a flurry of tweets saying the sons of Lalu Prasad took the jabs “belatedly” and they should now convince their father, and mother Rabri Devi, to get vaccinated.

    “If Lalu Prasad is already vaccinated, the information should be made public. It would send across a positive message among the public. Also, Tejashwi, the leader of the opposition and Tej Pratap, an ex-minister for health, would have done better to have chosen a government hospital for taking the jabs”, Modi said.

    He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and many other dignitaries have taken the shots at public health facilities and the brother duo “should avoid lending their heft to branding of private hospitals which are beyond the reach of the poor”.

    Incidentally, on the previous day when asked about the delay in getting vaccinated, Tejashwi Yadav had shot back “what is the hurry. I fall in the 18-44 years age group. This is the last category”.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • RJD to collect data on unreported Covid deaths in Bihar

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar’s principal opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has decided to play the role of a whistle-blower on the unreported cases of Covid-19 deaths in the state.

    At a meeting held in Patna on Tuesday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav called upon all the active workers of his party to collect data on deaths and sick people from every district, block and panchayat across the state and report them to the party headquarters. As per a rough estimate, there are more than 2 lakh active RJD workers in Bihar.

    Tejashwi Yadav also accused the Nitish Kumar government of gaining accolades with the help of fake statistics on vaccination and deaths and defrauding people. He accused the government of hiding data on deaths and presenting unbelievable figures on vaccination.

    As Yadav asked people of the state and his party cadre to keep a close watch on the government’s work during the Covid-19 pandemic, he also urged them to get vaccinated ahead of a possible third wave.

    RJD has been running ‘Lalu Kitchens’ in districts aimed at providing free food to poor people.

    Ahead of the meeting, BJP and the JD (U) attacked Tejashwi Yadav for not getting vaccinated yet. The opposition leader had earlier declared that he would get the jab only after 70 percent of the state’s population is vaccinated.

    BJP state spokesperson Dr. Ram Sagar Singh said that Tejashwi Yadav probably has an apprehension that his sexual ability will be affected after taking the vaccine. “He should trust the scientists of the country and abroad. Research has proved that the vaccine has no side-effects,” Singh said.

    He should first take the vaccine and motivate the workers, the BJP spokesperson said.

    When asked about Singh’s comment, Tejashwi Yadav said that the filthy statement exposed the mentality of BJP. “What can be expected from people of indecent mentality? We take his abusive language as a blessing,” he responded.

    Tejashwi Yadav also alleged that not a single operation for black fungus was being done at Nalanda Medical College & Hospital or Patna Medical College & Hospital.

    “There is also a shortage of black fungus medicines and a lack of coordination in the NDA alliance,” Tejashwi Yadav said.

  • Congress should be fulcrum of any national coalition against NDA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress is a national party with a pan-India presence and it is quite natural that it should be the fulcrum of any national coalition against the BJP-led NDA, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said on Sunday.

    In an interview with PTI, he also said that the Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP on more than 200 Lok Sabha seats and should focus on them while allowing regional parties to be in the driver’s seat in the other constituencies.

    Asked about the meeting of Opposition leaders and several civil society members at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Shared Pawar’s house here last week, the RJD leader said he was not aware what transpired in the meeting.

    However, the former Bihar deputy chief minister asserted that definitely all like-minded parties should come together with a common minimum programme to defeat “this most oppressive, divisive, authoritarian and fascist government”.

    “Our leader Lalu (Yadav) Ji had forewarned in the run up to 2014 election- ‘Ye chunaw tay karega ki desh tootega ya bachega (this election will decide whether the country will remain or be divided)’, and I think most of the parties and citizens of our country have realised this today like never before,” Yadav said.

    On the Congress not having a presence at the meeting and whether the grand old party should be part of a national alliance to take on the BJP, he said the Congress is a national party with a pan-India presence and quite naturally it “should be the fulcrum of any national coalition against the BJP-led NDA”.

    The Congress is in direct fight with BJP on more than 200 seats, not the regional parties, Yadav said.

    “From past experiences, I think the Congress must focus on those seats wherein it is in direct fight with the BJP and on remaining seats with an open heart and mind it should let regional parties be in the driving seat in their respective strongholds to root out the BJP,” he argued.

    His remarks assume significance as they come just days after Pawar said the Congress will need to be taken along if any alternative alliance is to be formed.

    Significantly, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday had also said that work is on to bring all opposition parties together at the national level, and this alliance will be incomplete without the Congress.

    He had said that the Congress will play an important role in the alliance that aims to provide a strong alternative to the present dispensation.

    NCP chief Pawar on Friday had claimed that formation of any national alliance was not the topic of discussion at the meeting of eight opposition parties hosted by him, but also said that if any such coalition emerges, its leadership will have to be “collective”.

    He had told reporters that the aim of the meeting at his Delhi residence last Tuesday was to discuss how they can support the ongoing farmers’ agitation.

    Speculation was rife that the agenda of the meeting, where no Congress leader was present, was to discuss a possible alliance which could be an alternative to the BJP.

    Asked what would be the form of any future alliance against the BJP and what would be the Congress’s place in it, Pawar had said, “There was no discussion on this, however, in my view the Congress will be needed to be taken along if any alternative alliance is to be formed.”

  • Chirag Paswan can take forward father’s legacy only by joining fight against Golwalkar thoughts: Tejashwi Yadav

    Tejashwi alleged that the BJP abandoned most of its old allies after coming to power and gaining maximum from them.

  • Bihar govt will fall in next 2 to 3 months, claims RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Just a day after return from New Delhi, Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Friday stirred the state politics predicting about the fall of Nitish Kumar-led government in next 2 to 3 months.

    Yadav made this claim speaking to the residents of Raghopur in Vaishali. 

    When some residents demanded for a development work to be done at Raghopur, Tejashwi Yadav said: “Wait for while. The government will fall in next 2 to 3 months and then it will be done.”

    The statement came two days after national president of JD-U RCP Singh claimed that the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government will complete it’s five years of term.

    Reacting to the statement, JD-U leader Nikhil Mandal said that Tejashwi Yadav has taken to the habit of daydreaming to come in power.

    “Nitish Kumar–led NDA government will complete its full terms as it is because of natural political alliance,” he added.

    Earlier, arguing for not taking the vaccine, the RJD leader had said that until 70 per cent of the population is vaccinated, he will not take vaccine. 

    Over this statement, former deputy CM of Bihar and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi accused Tejashwi Yadav of misleading and creating confusion about vaccine amongst the people out of political motif. “By this statement on vaccine, Tejashwi Yadav has made his political intention clear. Actually supporting Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi wants to run Corona vaccine as a political agenda along with other opposition parties. It has become a kind of political job of such leaders to defame the central government by derailing the vaccination campaign,” Modi alleged.

    Meanwhile, sources said that the NDA leaders might be claiming everything well within the NDA but fact is that growing political affinity between LJP leader Chirag Paswan and RJD Tejashwi Yadav after the leadership coup in the LJP allegedly at the behest of JDU has become a cause of concern for the NDA leaders.

    Before Tejashwi Yadav’s prediction, LJP leader Chirag Paswan had also commented about the fall of NDA government in Bihar. Chirag Paswan had also called upon the party leaders (before split in LJP) to be prepared for the midterm of assembly elections in Bihar. 

  • Tejashwi asks Chirag Paswan to quit NDA; blames JDU for the split in LJP

    By PTI
    PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday held out an olive branch to Chirag Paswan, saying the beleaguered LJP leader must reconsider his continuance in the NDA, led by the BJP which swore by the RSS ideology instead of the Constitution.

    The leader of the opposition also charged the ruling JD(U) in Bihar with being the “mastermind” behind the split in the LJP, which has left Chirag cornered within the party headed by him till recently and founded by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.

    Yadav, who was talking to reporters at the airport here upon his return from New Delhi after a long stay, also sought to remind Chirag that in 2005 and 2010 similar splits had been engineered by the JD(U) in the LJP while his father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad had “helped Ram Vilas get a Rajya Sabha berth when he had lost his own Lok Sabha seat”.

    “Chirag Paswan must now decide whom he wants to stand with those abiding by the Bunch of Thoughts (a famous polemical work by RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar) or those for whom the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar is supreme”, said Yadav.

    When pointed out that the JD(U), controlled by its de facto leader Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, claimed that it knew “nothing” about the crisis in the LJP which witnessed a revolt by Chirags uncle and former state minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, Yadav responded mordantly.

    “Nitish Kumar never knows anything. Perhaps he does not even read the papers. He must be unaware that in 27 out of 38 districts of Bihar, the price of petrol has crossed Rs 100 per litre”, Yadav remarked.

    When asked about the ruling partys criticism of his protracted absence from Bihar, Yadav, who led the RJD to an impressive performance in the last assembly polls, asserted that he had been away to look after his ailing father.

    “The ruling dispensation must be aware that I am a beta (son) besides being a neta (leader). Moreover, what would I have been able to do for the people here when even those in power had been forbidden from venturing out”, Yadav said, in an oblique reference to a circular issued by the state cabinet secretariat whereby ministers had been asked to refrain from undertaking tours during the COVID-induced lockdown.

    He also said doctors attending his father, one of the most colourful and keenly-watched politicians of the state, have hinted that he might be able to come to Patna “very soon”.

    Prasad, convicted in many fodder scam cases, has been staying in the national capital upon his release from jail following bail granted by Jharkhand High Court.