E-Paper
Why Tejashwi Yadav was picked as INDIA bloc’s CM face for Bihar election: Rise of RJD leader
Tejashwi Yadav has been declared the CM candidate for the Bihar assembly elections, after weeks of internal discord within the INDIA bloc over seat-sharing.
After days of suspense and simmering discontent over seat-sharing, the Opposition's INDIA bloc or Mahagathbandhan in Bihar finally found its rallying point in Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who was on Thursday declared the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly election. Many political analysts believed it was just a matter of time before Tejashwi Yadav - an obvious choice - was declared the CM face.
In a symbolic show of unity, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani was named the deputy chief ministerial face, as the INDIA bloc sought to turn the page on weeks of public squabbling.
Also Read | Tejashwi Yadav named Oppn CM face; Mukesh Sahani is surprise deputy CM pick
Name announcement ends weeks of unease
The formal announcement came at a joint press conference in Patna, where former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, deputed by the Congress leadership as its troubleshooter, shared the dais with Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav.
“All allies in the INDIA bloc, including our leader Rahul Gandhi, have decided that Tejashwi will be our CM face and we will fight the election unitedly. The decision has been taken after consultation with all allies and our president Mallikarjun Kharge,” Ashok Gehlot said, bringing clarity after months of behind-the-scenes parleys.
Also Read | Some friendly fights not a big deal, says Ashok Gehlot after meeting Lalu, Tejashwi
The Opposition, aiming to unseat chief minister Nitish Kumar after four consecutive terms, had been mired in internal discord over candidate selection and overlapping nominations. Yet, Thursday’s announcement injected a note of confidence, and turned the focus towards the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Inevitable choice
Tejashwi Yadav’s elevation was less a sudden rise than a carefully crafted inevitability. Having led the alliance in 2020, when it came within touching distance of power, Tejashwi knew the Congress was using a delay tactic to seek more seats.
Despite these pulls and pressures, Tejashwi reasserted his primacy with quiet firmness. His equation with the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani was crucial in smoothing over tensions.
Learning from 2020
In 2020, it was a neck-and-neck fight before the Mahagathbandhan, under Tejashwi, fell short of just 12 seats of a majority, with the RJD emerging as the single-largest party with 75 seats.
Also Read | Tejashwi Yadav named Oppn CM face; Mukesh Sahani is surprise deputy CM pick
Reports suggested that Tejashwi had even “readied his sherwani” for the swearing-in ceremony before the opportunity slipped away. That near-win, colleagues say, shaped him profoundly.
The RJD scion has since evolved from being seen as a dynast to a decisive campaigner who set the political narrative around jobs, youth, and welfare.
Resilience
Tejashwi’s journey has not been without turbulence. He has faced renewed scrutiny in the IRCTC case, in which he and his parents were recently charged, a move he dismissed as “part of a political vendetta” by the BJP. But within the party, there is little doubt about his dominance. With elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav charting his own eccentric course and sister Misa Bharti consolidating her position in national politics, Tejashwi is firmly in command of the RJD’s direction and destiny.
Rise of a reluctant politician
Tejashwi’s confirmation as the Mahagathbandhan’s undisputed leader comes 15 years after his first press appearance at the RJD office in Patna, where he hinted at joining politics. A former member of the Delhi Daredevils IPL squad, who never took the field in four seasons, Tejashwi chose to trade cricket whites for the rough-and-tumble of politics.
Guided by his father’s political instincts and aided by trusted aide Sanjay Yadav, he entered the fray in 2015 from Raghopur in Vaishali district and swiftly ascended to the post of deputy CM in Nitish Kumar’s government. During that brief 17-month tenure, he earned a reputation as an efficient road construction minister.
Even after Nitish switched sides, citing corruption allegations, Tejashwi’s rise remained uninterrupted. As Leader of the Opposition, he became the loudest voice against the government, his 2020 campaign on the “10 lakh jobs” promise striking a chord across Bihar.
In his second stint as deputy CM (2022–24), he influenced Nitish’s own pitch, the CM’s Independence Day speech that year included a promise of five lakh government jobs, an echo of Tejashwi’s campaign. Though Nitish once again returned to the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Tejashwi stayed focused on employment and governance, challenging the NDA’s “jungle raj” narrative with crime and corruption data from Nitish’s two-decade rule.
Criminal cases and scams
Tejashwi, however, is no stranger to controversy. He is an accused in a 2017 CBI case against his parents and others over alleged irregularities in awarding contracts to maintain IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as the railway minister (2004–2009). The case remains under trial in a Delhi court.
In 2022, the CBI filed a new case accusing Tejashwi and his parents of taking land from people in exchange for Group D railway jobs, again during Lalu’s ministerial tenure. Hearing in the case is currently underway in Delhi.
Tejashwi is also an accused in a 2020 murder case, along with his brother Tej Pratap Yadav. In his election affidavit that year, he disclosed facing 11 criminal cases, including charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and offences under anti-corruption and money-laundering laws, according to The Federal.
