Bihar elections: NCP, Shiv Sena laud RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday praised Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for giving a tough fight to the National

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday praised Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for giving a tough fight to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by incumbent chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Bihar elections.

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“I believe the election was between NDA and Tejashwi... On one side, there’s a young, inexperienced person like Tejashwi and on the other, a gentleman [Narenda Modi] who was the CM of Gujarat for so many years and is also the Prime Minister of the country for the second term with an incumbent CM Nitish Kumar, who has been heading the state for so many terms. Irrespective of all that, whatever seats he [Yadav] has got, it’s a good achievement. I am sure this will be an inspiration for younger generations,” the NCP chief said, reacting to the results of the Bihar Assembly elections.

Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut also lauded Yadav’s performance in the polls and said that though he may not emerge as the winner, he is the ‘Man of the Match” in the Bihar election as the 31-year-old put up a “brave fight” against the ruling party.

“Definitely the trends favour NDA. BJP is now at the top and Nitish babu [Kumar] is on the third spot. But the Man of the Match is Tejashwi Yadav. Sometimes, a member of the losing team is awarded Man of the Match award for the brave fight he puts up. In the entire Bihar election, Tejashwi has shone alone. He fought alone against the ruling party without any major allies and no support from the family,” Raut told media persons in Mumbai.

The Sena parliamentarian added that Tejashwi controlled the campaign narrative for the Bihar polls and took it from frivolous issues to unemployment.

“He put up a fight against the prime minister and the Union cabinet. I think the country and the state have got a leader who can be banked upon,” Raut said.

Commenting on the performance of its ally, Raut said, “If the Congress had performed better, then Tejashwi Yadav would have been the frontrunner in the race to the CM’s post.”

The Sena leader added that the JD(U)’s performance needs introspection.

“If a three-term CM is on the third spot, then it is definitely a matter of introspection. Nitish Kumar and NDA should introspect. It also means that the government had failed completely,” Raut remarked.

With BJP expected to be the single largest party in Bihar with its pre-poll ally JD(U) on the third spot, Raut said that BJP will not go back on its words to make Nitish Kumar the CM again.

Referring to the fallout between the BJP and Sena after last year’s Maharashtra Assembly elections, Raut said, “All the BJP leaders are still saying that Nitish Kumar will be the CM. For this Nitish Kumar has to thank Shiv Sena. After our counterattack on BJP following what they tried to do with us, they will not behave in that manner again. Nitish Kumar will and should be the CM.”