Tejashwi Yadav is likely to be declared the CM face in the joint press conference of the Grand Alliance.

Patna, Oct 23 (IANS) As the Grand Alliance prepares to hold an important press conference on Thursday, speculations are rife that the long wait for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav’s desire to be declared the chief ministerial face of the alliance may finally be over.

The development follows a meeting between Tejashwi Yadav, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot and the party’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, who met Tejashwi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna on Wednesday.

The backdrop of Thursday’s press event at Patna’s Maurya Hotel has further fueled the speculation – the banner of the press conference prominently displayed the election symbols of all the grand alliance partners, but only a large photograph of Tejashwi Yadav.

A hashtag ‘Bihar Mage Tejashwi Sarkar’ is also displayed on the banner.

This will also be the first joint press conference of the Grand Alliance after the announcement of election dates.

The last time the Grand Alliance leaders shared the stage was during the launch of the ‘Extremely Backward EBC Sankalp Patra’ in Patna on September 24, in which Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha leader Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahni were present.

Earlier, the leaders had jointly participated in Rahul Gandhi’s fortnight-long ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which passed through more than 25 districts across Bihar.

While the Congress has refrained from commenting on the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting, alliance ally CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has indicated growing impatience within the block over the delay in naming Tejashwi Yadav as the CM candidate.

Bhattacharya said, “The official announcement of Tejashwi’s name as the opposition’s CM candidate can be made in a joint press conference on Thursday. The whole of Bihar knows that if the opposition party gets the majority, Tejashwi will be the CM.”

Ashok Gehlot, however, has maintained a cautious stance, only noting that “all confusions” will be resolved at Thursday’s press conference.

So far, the Congress has been cautious in nominating Tejashwi Yadav as the unanimous choice of the opposition alliance.

The party has not responded to Tejashwi’s gesture of publicly supporting Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, as the prime ministerial face of the alliance for the 2024 general elections.

–IANS

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