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Tejashwi Yadav to begin second innings as Bihar’s deputy chief minister
The young Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a good impression as the leader of opposition in the past two years of the outgoing NDA government in Bihar. He had several face-offs with his new ally Nitish Kumar during assembly sessions on law and order, liquor ban and unemployment.
After missing out on an opportunity to become Bihar’s youngest chief minister after the 2020 assembly polls, 32-year-old Tejashwi Yadav is set to become deputy chief minister for the second time in the Grand Alliance government led by Nitish Kumar.
The young Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a good impression as the leader of opposition in the past two years of the outgoing National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar. He had several face-offs with his new ally Kumar during assembly sessions on law and order, liquor ban and unemployment.
In his speeches, Yadav has been seen driving home his points with data to corner the state government, an aspect RJD leaders say has made the young Yadav scion a popular leader of the masses. In these two years, Yadav has also reached out to non-Yadav communities in Bihar to expand his party’s base.
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“Tejashwi as leader of the opposition has showed maturity at a young age,” said Alok Mehta, RJD’s state principal secretary general. The party’s stellar performance in 2020 elections was due to good leadership skills and the oratory of Yadav, who had promised one million government jobs to youth in the poll manifesto and speedy development of the state, he said.
Yadav has been accepted as a people’s leader because his leadership skills and ability to anchor the party in the past few years, state president Jagdanand Singh, who represents the old guard in the RJD, has said on many occasions. “One can be a son of a leader. But acceptability comes from the people. Tejashwi has been accepted by the people as a tall leader,” Singh had said.
However, insiders in the RJD said the Yadav scion has endured challenges to his leadership from some of the old guard and also his siblings, including elder brother and former minister Tej Pratap Yadav. In 2020, just days before his death, former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had attacked RJD chief Lalu Prasad, accusing him of promoting his sons and imposing family rule in the RJD.
“There have been some dissenting voices over Tejashwi’s rise as a de facto number two, especially after he was authorised to take all policy decisions of the RJD by the party’s legislators in June this year,” said a senior RJD leader, asking not to be named. “But that has almost died down because a large section of senior leaders, including state president Jagdanand Singh, continue to back the Yadav scion as the heir apparent to the RJD chief. This has helped Tejashwi to consolidate his position in the party.”
Yadav was instrumental in selecting candidates for the 2020 assembly polls, party insiders said. He also picked candidates for the legislative council elections held in April this year.
On the political front, Yadav has shown acumen, like being instrumental in convincing four All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLAs to join the party to increase RJD’s tally to 79, and organising the Pratirodh (resistance) March against price rise in the country on August 7.
To be sure, he faced criticism for staying away from Bihar for months during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and not meeting workers as frequently as his father.
There are also indications that Yadav may still have to wait to become the RJD’s national president, a demand of his supporters for long. The RJD brass is apprehensive that the elevation of Yadav as national president in the coming organisational polls could stir up fresh friction between him and his elder brother, party insiders said.
Yadav has gained prominence as an articulate leader but still has to prove himself as an able administrator, political observers said. He has also faced allegations of corruption in the IRCTC hotel land scam in which the Enforcement Directorate has pressed charges against him and others.
“The corruption charges against Tejashwi would make him a target of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party,” a leader of the Grand Alliance said, seeking anonymity. “That will be a challenge.”
