Bihar polls: Will Tej Pratap Yadav’s decision to contest from Mahua pose a challenge to RJD?

Former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who was recently expelled from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has announced that he will contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Mahua constituency as an Independent candidate.

 

Tej, the eldest son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, was expelled from the party on May 25 after he reportedly confessed to his relationship with a woman other than his estranged wife, even though the divorce petition was still pending before a court. 

 

Currently an MLA from Hasanpur in Samastipur district, Tej had represented the Mahua seat in Vaishali after winning the 2015 assembly elections.

 

"Yes, this time, I will contest the elections from the Mahua Assembly seat as an Independent candidate. My opponents must have started to feel an itch,” he told the media on Saturday evening.

 

"I have people's support... a large number of people are now connected with my 'Team Tej Pratap Yadav', a social media platform to reach out to people," he added.

 

Tej expressed confidence that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would not retain his post after the Assembly elections. He, however, did not specify whether he would support the RJD-Congress alliance, which is keen on returning to power.

 

“Those who would form the government, if they talk about youths, employment, education, and health, Tej Pratap Yadav will stand with them," he said.

 

Mahua is a stronghold of the RJD and is currently represented by party leader Mukesh Kumar Raushan.

 

Meanwhile, media reports earlier this week suggested an internal feud in the Yadav family, with Tej unfollowing his sisters Misa Bharti, Raj Laxmi Yadav and Hema Yadav, and other family members on X.

 

He also unfollowed the official handle of the RJD.

 

Tej was expelled from the party for six years by his father for “irresponsible behaviour” and “ignoring moral values”.

 

This came after Tej allegedly shared a photo of himself with a woman on his Facebook page. The post identified the woman as Anushka Yadav and that the duo had been in a relationship for 12 years.

 

The post stirred up a social media storm, with many reminding him of his marriage to Aishwarya, the granddaughter of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Rai, in 2018. Within a few months of the marriage, Aishwarya left his house, alleging that she was driven out by her husband and in-laws.

 

Days after his expulsion, Tej alleged that there was a "conspiracy" to drive a wedge between him and his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav.

 

Using the Mahabharata imagery, which he has been employing to describe his relationship with his far more successful younger brother, Yadav wrote, "Those dreaming of a rift between me and Arjun, will never succeed in conspiracy. They can win over the military of Krishna, but can't capture Krishna himself. I will soon expose every such conspiracy."

 

The RJD will fight the upcoming polls under the leadership of Tejashwi, who is also speculated to be the chief minister candidate of the opposition alliance.

India