Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday asserted that he was "in no hurry' to replace his boss Nitish Kumar, rubbishing speculations that his Rashtriya Janata Dal wanted to elbow out the ageing Janata Dal-United leader.
Yadav, who is in his early 30s, also deftly rebuffed queries from journalists as to whether he felt "cheated' by averments of some top JD-U leaders that the septuagenarian Kumar would complete his five-year tenure ending in 2025 and was "capable of' leading the Mahagathbandhan till 2030.
"What wrong did they say? Indeed he (Nitish) is very much capable. And the longer he stays, the richer will be his experience. I am in no hurry," said the RJD leader, who returned as deputy CM in August last year following the JD-U's exit from BJP-led NDA.
The statement of Yadav, younger son and heir apparent of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, comes as a reprieve for the JD-U which recently saw its parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha walking out alleging that a "deal' has been struck with the alliance partner.
Moreover, quite a few MLAs of the RJD, a party not known for restraint in speech, have also been issuing statements that Yadav will be taking over after Holi, which falls in the first week of March.
Yadav said he was concentrating on ensuring the defeat of the BJP in the general elections next year by ensuring that out of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, "They do not win a single seat." -- PTI