For Tejashwi, Lalu legacy is a mixed bag
The political survival of Tejashwi Yadav — and the RJD — will depend on him consolidating the party’s Mandal-Mandir legacy
On Saturday, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national executive committee entrusted Tejashwi Yadav with powers that elevate him to be on par with the party’s national president, a post held by his father, Lalu Prasad. Tejashwi Yadav has been the face of the party since Lalu Prasad’s extended incarceration in corruption cases. The current move, keeping in mind Lalu Prasad’s health and the impending assembly elections in Bihar, is meant to avoid any leadership tussle in the post-Lalu Prasad phase.

The leadership transition in the RJD has not been without hiccups, which is not surprising since four of Lalu Prasad’s children, including Tejashwi Yadav, have political ambitions. But the RJD has, so far, not faced the sort of rebellion other Mandal parties have experienced. Deve Gowda’s move to make his son, HD Kumaraswamy, his successor in the Janata Dal (Secular) saw several senior leaders, Siddaramaiah among them, leaving the outfit. In the Samajwadi Party, the elevation of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav led to senior party hand, Shivpal Yadav, floating a separate outfit. However, Tejashwi Yadav, whose energetic campaign facilitated the party’s revival in the 2020 assembly election, has been successful in outsmarting potential rivals and gaining acceptance among party supporters. The truth is most cadres are now reconciled with the trend of parties, including the ones that emerged from social mobilisations, such as the DMK and BSP, being turned into family enterprises.
Tejashwi Yadav will now need to deal with the mixed legacy of his father. Lalu Prasad was seen as uncompromising in furthering one of the two major strands of post-1980s national politics, Mandal, and opposing the other, Mandir. However, his legacy also includes a period in Bihar politics that was characterised by corruption, general lawlessness, and the collapse of the State and its institutions. The political survival of Tejashwi Yadav — and the RJD — will depend on him consolidating the party’s Mandal-Mandir legacy and convincing voters that Lalu Prasad’s administrative model is a thing of the past.
