Patna, Oct 23: The opposition INDIA bloc on Thursday declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav its chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar assembly polls, in what is being seen as a last-ditch effort to put an end to squabbles after weeks of intense deliberations and project unity ahead of the elections.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who has been in Patna since Wednesday to resolve differences with the Opposition bloc, also said that Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni and leaders from other sections of society will be deputy CMs if the INDIA bloc comes to power in the state, “keeping in mind the complex social structure of Bihar”.
Addressing a joint press conference along with Yadav, CPI (ML)-L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and other members of the INDIA bloc, Gehlot said,”We have decided, after consultations with our national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, besides all coalition partners who are here, to name Tejashwi Yadav as our chief ministerial candidate.”
Sahani, who wields influence among Mallah and Nishad communities, reportedly drove a hard bargain during seat-sharing talks. A former Bollywood set designer, the 45-year-old leader entered politics in 2014 when he campaigned for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, only to allege, later, that the party failed to keep its promise to grant Scheduled Castes status to his community.
He founded VIP in 2015, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress-RJD combine, but returned to the NDA a year later, alleging that Tejashwi Yadav had “backstabbed” him in a seat-sharing deal.
In the 2020 assembly polls, VIP won four seats, and though Sahni himself lost from Simri Bakhtiarpur, he was inducted into the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
His abrasive campaign in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls of 2022, when he openly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, had the BJP gunning for him and led to his expulsion from the cabinet, while all VIP MLAs joined the BJP. He was back in the INDIA bloc in the thick of the Lok Sabha polls last year.
Incidentally, demands have been made by a section of Congress leaders in Bihar that it would like one of its leaders, preferably a Muslim or a Dalit, as a deputy CM if the multi-party coalition came to power.
Speaking at the press conference, Yadav, who had led the Mahagathbandhan in the last assembly polls, thanked his allies for reposing his trust in him again and said, “It was not a big issue for us, but since there was so much media speculation, we decided to make it clear.”
The 35-year-old leader, often dubbed by Modi as the “crown prince of jungle raj”, addressed the criticism head-on.
“I would like to tell the people of Bihar that Tejashwi will never compromise on corruption and will spare nobody accused of a crime, be it his own shadow or anyone with influence,” said Yadav, who has enjoyed two short tenures as deputy CM.
The RJD leader also alleged that the bogey of jungle raj was a “propaganda” by the BJP, which shares power in Bihar, where “not a day passes that murders and rapes do not take place. Victims of sexual assault die for want of timely medical help”.
He also claimed that Nitish Kumar will “never be made chief minister again” by the NDA. And to back his claim, Yadav cited Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent comment that the coalition would contest the assembly polls “under the leadership” of Kumar, who heads the JD(U), but “the legislators would decide” who will occupy the top post after the elections.
Shah’s remark has been seen by many as a sign that the BJP, which had outperformed the JD(U) in the last assembly elections, now wanted to have its own chief minister in the only Hindi heartland state where it is yet to occupy the seat of power.
Later, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, who was present at the press conference, told reporters: “We have taken the lead by announcing our face. Now it is for the NDA to stop equivocating on the issue and declare whom it proposes to make the CM if it forms the government”.
Meanwhile, the NDA parties insisted that attempts at putting up a united face notwithstanding, cracks within the INDIA bloc were there for all to see.
The BJP shared on its X handle a photograph of the poster put up at the press conference, with a huge image of Yadav, highlighting the fact “there are not even thumbnails of other INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi”.
Independent MP Pappu Yadav, who supports the Congress but has been critical of the RJD, said, “Dalits and the extremely backward classes would vote for the INDIA bloc only because of Rahul Gandhi. His image should have been there. Alliance partners like Bhattacharya should also have been in the poster.”
Union minister Chirag Paswan, whose LJP(R) is the NDA’s third largest constituent, said, “Our campaign has already picked up. My voice has gone hoarse addressing rallies. But leaders of the INDIA bloc are yet to step out of their rooms”.
JD(U) MLC and spokesman Neeraj Kumar called Tejashwi Yadav “an angry child who has been handed over a lollipop” and recounted “massive defeats of 2019 and 2024” when the RJD leader was spearheading the INDIA bloc’s campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.
Reacting to Gehlot’s announcement, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor said:“It was always expected that if Lalu Yadav’s ‘Jungle Raj’ was to return, Tejashwi Yadav would be the CM face. So, what’s new in that?” (PTI)
