Three and a half months before the much-anticipated Bihar assembly election, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday urged party leaders and workers to work diligently to make Tejashwi Yadav the next chief minister.
"Tejashwi Yadav must become chief minister under all circumstances. Everyone should work hard and form our government. We must remove the RSS and Nitish Kumar," Lalu stated in chaste Hindi while addressing his party's state executive meeting in Patna.
By announcing Tejashwi Yadav, who is the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, as the candidate for the top post, Lalu has clarified that his younger son, Tejashwi, is the chief ministerial face of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan.
Lalu, in his characteristic style, also stated that the poor, Dalits, backward classes, and minorities would receive their rightful share in the government if the party were elected to power.
The RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, which includes the Congress, Left parties, and Mukesh Shahni's VIP, is the main rival to the ruling NDA, comprised of the JD-U, BJP, LJP(R), HAM, and RLSP.
Tejashwi Yadav, who has been aggressively targeting the ruling NDA and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently, advised RJD leaders and workers not to waste time repeatedly visiting top party leaders for election tickets. Instead, he urged them to camp in their districts, towns, and villages, focusing on reaching out to people and working hard.
"Laluji, the RJD chief, will decide on candidate selection based on hard work on the ground. There is no need to visit us here," he emphasised.
Lalu's RJD is the largest opposition party in the Mahagathbandhan and is likely to contest 130 to 135 of the 243 assembly seats. The Congress is expected to contest 50 to 60 seats, the three Left parties (CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M)) 30 to 40 seats, and VIP 15 to 20 seats.
Seat-sharing discussions are yet to begin and will take time.
However, on the other hand, the confusion over the chief ministerial face of the ruling NDA remains unresolved.
Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are reluctant to declare that Nitish Kumar will continue as chief minister or to name him as the NDA's chief ministerial candidate.
In contrast, the JD-U, a major ally of the BJP, has declared that its leader and party president, Nitish Kumar, will be the next chief minister.
The JD-U's colorful posters and banners prominently display "2025 se 2030 phir se Nitish Kumar" (Nitish Kumar again from 2025 to 2030).
-- M I Khan in Patna
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances
