Ground report: Tejashwi projects himself as Grand Alliance’s Bihar CM candidate

With his allies in the Bihar Grand Alliance shying away from projecting him as their joint chief minister candidate for the upcoming assembly polls, RJD leader and former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav placed the honour on himself, on Monday (September 1), as the Opposition's Voter Adhikar Yatra concluded in Patna.

Addressing a massive gathering of the Opposition's supporters and ordinary citizens alike at Patna's Dak Bungalow, with Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi present on the stage alongside other Grand Alliance leaders, Tejashwi made a strong pitch for his chief ministerial ambitions.

Tejashwi calls Nitish regime ‘copycat’

Cleverly marshalling the political legacy of his father, RJD chief and former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, to his advantage, Tejashwi declared to a visibly charged-up crowd that the incumbent Nitish Kumar-led ruling NDA coalition had been copying his ideas to sway voters ahead of the impending polls. Accusing the Nitish regime of being a "copycat" (nakalchi sarkaar), the former deputy Chief Minister asked the crowd, "duplicate CM chahiye ya original CM" (do you want a duplicate CM or an original one), while the people emphatically responded, "original".

The RJD leader claimed that, be it the promise of increasing pensions or setting up a state commission for youth empowerment, all proposals that the Nitish regime had approved in the run-up to the Bihar polls were "copied from RJD's promises".

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"Tejashwi aage aage, yeh sarkaar peeche peeche" (this government is following Tejashwi), he declared, while the crowd cheered, "humara CM kaisa ho, Tejashwi bhaiya jaisa ho (our CM should be Tejashwi)."

Given that the Opposition, under Rahul's stewardship of the Bihar 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', had spent the past fortnight travelling across 1,300 kilometres of the state projecting a unity in the Grand Alliance that had rarely ever been seen before, none of the RJD allies could qualify Tejashwi's self-endorsement with any riders.

Congress reluctance

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who spoke after Tejashwi, made no reference to the question of who the Grand Alliance would project as the CM. This was consistent with the Congress's hesitancy in publicly declaring any leader as the alliance's CM face ahead of the polls.

During the course of the yatra too, Rahul had evaded a direct answer to questions on why his party was not endorsing Tejashwi for the CM's job, especially considering that the RJD leader had, on multiple occasions in the past, publicly endorsed Rahul as a future Prime Minister of India.

Also Read: Akhilesh Yadav mocks RSS chief Bhagwat, endorses Tejashwi for Bihar elections

Sources in the Congress claim that the party did not wish to announce a chief minister face, even though there was "complete consensus on Tejashwi's name within the alliance", because it felt that certain caste groups in the state may not vote enthusiastically for the Grand Alliance if the eventuality of Tejashwi being made the chief minister was a done deal.

‘Tejashwi only choice for CM’s post’

With his spirited self-endorsement, Tejashwi has thus presented the Grand Alliance a fait accompli. Sources in the Congress and Left parties, which are part of the Grand Alliance, told The Federal that it was now "immaterial" whether or not the alliance projected a CM face.

Also Read: Rahul’s Bihar yatra gives hope to cadres but will it be enough to revive Congress?

"In any case, everyone knew that if we came to power, Tejashwi was the only probable for the CM's post. But now that he has pretty much made the announcement, there is no point in denying it... in a way it is good; we don't have to say this publicly now and the people of Bihar are intelligent enough to understand the reasons for this," a CPI-MLL leader said.

Invokes Lalu’s legacy

The RJD leader also repeatedly invoked Lalu Prasad Yadav during his speech in a bid to underscore that he, like his father, would "never compromise" with the BJP or be intimidated.

"The blood of Lalu Yadav runs in my veins", Tejashwi declared while reminding the people that it was the RJD chief who had "arrested LK Advani" and stopped the BJP veteran's Ram Rath Yatra, which had left a trail of blood and violence in its wake across the country back in 1990.

Also Read: As Rahul’s Voter Adhikar Yatra approaches climax, the real test begins now

The RJD leader repeatedly claimed that his father had been framed in various cases, but the BJP "couldn't succeed in forcing Lalu to bow down" and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying the same intimidation tactics against him now.

"Till date, Lalu Yadav has not bowed down before him (Modi); Tejashwi will also not bow down. Laluji got Advani arrested, do you think his son Tejashwi will get scared of an FIR? Lord Krishna, our God, himself was born in jail," Tejashwi said, adding a touch of Hindu political messaging in his speech.