Tejashwi Yadav sends signal to Congress through ‘Bihar Adhikar Yatra’: ‘Hero not sidekick’

The RJD, led by Tejashwi Yadav, will begin the Bihar Adhikar Yatra on Tuesday, a politically significant move that comes two weeks after its ally Congress concluded its 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' in the state. The decision to  hold a separate yatra has triggered speculations that all is not well between the RJD and the Congress amid rumours over differences in seat sharing.

Speculations are that Tejashwi didn’t appreciate Rahul’s gesture of dodging the question about the CM's face  in Bihar. The RJD feels that despite Tejashwi attending the Vote Adhikar Yatra with Rahul in Bihar and even highlighting him as a contender for the post of Prime Minister, the gesture was not reciprocated.

According to local media reports, Tejashwi will tour constituencies and areas where Congress missed in its Yatra. This is a bid to establish himself not as a sidekick but as the hero and the CM face in Bihar. Political analysts feel that was why Tejashwi announced the party’s plan to contest in all 243 seats of Bihar.

Cracks in Mahagadbhandan

Things are reportedly not rosy in the INDI Alliance in Bihar with Congress’s stance on seat sharing. The Grand Old Party allegedly was seeking 70 constituencies, the same as in 2020. However, the RJD doesn’t want a repeat of the results after Congress won just 19. The Congress’s poor show was a major hindrance in forming the government despite the RJD emerging as the single-largest party with 75 seats (out of the 144 it contested).

The issues came to the fore after the RJD refused to attend a Congress event in Aurangabad, Bihar, despite  Congress state president Rajesh Ram’s invitation. The snub didn’t go down well within the Congress, which also feels that the RJD organising its event in the venue was threatening the alliance.

Many feel the RJD Yatra is also the party’s way of flexing its political muscles before the Mahagathbandhan parties meet, where seat discussions will be held.

CM face

The Congress has been non-committal about the CM's face. Its leaders have been continuously saying that the public will decide who will be the CM candidate, while Tejashwi wants the decks cleared.

However, the RJD leaders are mincing no words. “Tejashwi Yadav is the most obvious CM face of the Mahagathbandhan,” RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari told The Indian Express. “What our leader meant by his statement was that he alone could be the face of our alliance”, he added.