Tejashwi elevated as ‘de facto’ RJD chief, gets powers at par with Lalu
RJD empowers Tejashwi Yadav as de facto head, granting him election ticket authority ahead of 2025 polls; Lalu Yadav likely to retain party presidency.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD) on Saturday conferred higher powers to leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, almost making the Yadav scion “de facto” head of the party at the national executive meeting of the party held in Patna. Tejashwi will now have the authority to distribute party tickets, symbols and flags, etc, to candidates in any election in exercise of the powers that only party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has.

The national president of RJD will be officially chosen on July 5 in the party’s national council meeting.
The RJD executive was attended by the top brass of the party. The resolution passed by the top body of the party sought to elevate Tejashwi to top party position in the wake of upcoming 2025 assembly polls.
Sources said that the resolutions was also aimed at authorising Tejashwi as an official second-in-command in the party to pre-empt any move of a split or attempts to destabilise the party as happened with Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra.
“The resolution is a shield to make the party strong and also handle any adverse situation or attempts to destabilise it. It also sought to prevent disputes arising in the name of the party or the symbol of the party as happened with parties in Maharashtra. Now, Tejashwi and RJD chief both can take decisions on party’s symbol, flag and tickets,” said a senior RJD functionary.
“I will try to deliver as per responsibilities entrusted to me,” said Tejashwi, talking to reporters after the national executive meeting. Yadav, who is considered heir apparent to the RJD chief and is the chief ministerial face of the party, maintained that the party is gearing up for the 2025 assembly polls and would hold national council meeting and open session on July 5 to mark the party’s foundation day.
“We have the blueprint for development of Bihar and working for all sections.CM Nitish Kumar is a tired chief minister. In our national executive, our party has also discussed issues for expanding the party’s organisational base ahead of the polls,” said Yadav.
The election of the new national president would be held in the national council meeting with all probability that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav would once again be elected to the top post, sources said.
The organisational polls of the party from panchayat level unit to state level units and national executive will start from 15 May onwards after the final publication of the new members list on 14 May, party officials said. Senior leader Ram Chandra Purbe has been appointed as chief election officer of the party and Chittaranjan Gagan, state spokesperson, as assistant election officer for the organisational polls.
A press release by the RJD said the party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, in his inaugural address at the meeting, praised Tejashwi for his hard work and his bid to tour the entire state to strenthen the party. “ It gives me happiness that Tejahswi is upholding and strengthening the principles of socialism, secularism and social justice -- the fulcrum upon which the RJD was formed,” Yadav said.
The absence of a senior party -- state president of the RJD and former minister Jagdanand Singh -- gave some fodder for speculations of intra-party rift in RJD, but party leaders said that Singh could not attend the meeting as he was indisposed.
“All is well in the party. Today, several important resolutions were passed and the party has praised Tejashwi’s promise of implementing Mai Behan Yojana at the meeting,” said Manoj Jha, Rajya Sabha MP.
The Mai Behan Yojana -- a scheme spin-off borrowed from Jharkhand, Delhi and Madhya Pradhesh - would be implemented in Bihar, if the RJD led coalition comes to power in 2025 assembly polls, Tejashwi has been promising in his public meetings.
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