Lalu's sidelined son Tej Pratap Yadav floats parallel organization
(Sourced from PTI)
Sidelined in the Rashtriya Janata Dal, founded by his father Lalu Prasad Yadav, elder son Tej Pratap Yadav has floated a new students body with the ostensible aim of strengthening the parent organization. Tej Pratap launched the Chhatra Janshakti Parishad two days ago and claimed that it was not meant to pose any challenge to the Chhatra RJD, the party's official student wing.
He said the student wing will work toward "mobilizing youth at the village level." The maverick MLA came out with the announcement, claiming, as always, that he had "the blessings of Lalu Prasad," at a time when he was left licking his wounds after losing the battle in a tug of war with state RJD Chief Jagadanand Singh.
Jagadanand, known to be close to Tej Pratap's younger and more powerful sibling Tejashwi Yadav, had earned the wrath of the mercurial elder brother recently when he sacked Akash Yadav as the state president of Chhatra RJD.
Notably, Akash is amongst the few close friends of Tej Pratap. Though there was no official word on the reasons behind the removal of Akash it was widely believed that the blame fell on him when posters came up in Patna recently in which images of Tejashwi who is now the party's de-facto leader were conspicuous by absence.
Sensing that it could further diminish his clout, Tej Pratap had reacted furiously, likening Jagadanand to "Hitler," who refused to visit the party office for days in protest, until he was, understandably, mollified by Tejashwi. Meanwhile, Akash realized that time was up for him in the RJD and has joined Lok Janshakti Party.
RJD rank and file, which has been witness to Tej Pratap's tantrums for a while, viewed the development with bemusement. Speaking on condition of anonymity, some of them pointed out that the volatile leader had reacted similarly during the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 when he floated a Lalu Rabri Morcha when his cronies were denied tickets.
Meanwhile, Bihar BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said, "Tej Pratap is fighting for his survival and we sympathize with him. His father has treated RJD as a personal fiefdom and failed to do justice to his own son." "It is ironic, and a poor reflection on the RJD that Tej Pratap, who never cared to educate himself, shall be floating a students' body," he added.
