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New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) Reacting to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav being declared the Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and BJP leader Jaiveer Singh on Friday said the people of Bihar are “in no mood to tolerate Lalu’s family once again.”
Speaking to IANS, Jaiveer Singh said, “The entire state of Bihar saw 20 years ago – jungle raj, hooliganism, looting and illegal land encroachment, which defined Lalu’s era. The people of Bihar remember it well. The consequences of that era are still visible in Tejashwi Yadav. The people of Bihar are certainly in no frame of mind to tolerate Lalu’s family once again.”
However, Congress MP Sukhdev Bhagat defended the grand alliance’s decision, saying, “Tejashwi Yadav has already served as Deputy Chief Minister and has the required political experience for leadership. The Indian alliance has fulfilled its responsibility by declaring its chief ministerial candidate. Now it is the turn of the NDA to declare its chief ministerial candidate, but they will not do so as they will continue to betray Nitish Kumar. I urge them through your platform to Declare your chief ministerial candidate.” Officially declare Nitish Kumar as your chief ministerial face.”
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha also reacted, saying, “We are aware of our actions, and we have not committed any mistake. Just wait for a few more days; a bigger message reflecting the ground reality will come soon. Tejashwi Yadav being the face of the grand alliance is a universal truth.”
He said, “However, we need to look at the other aspect also. We do not want Bihar to become like Maharashtra, where elections were fought under a single leadership and later the Chief Minister was made the Deputy Chief Minister. Bihar is not Maharashtra, clarity is necessary.”
Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav’s name was announced as the chief ministerial face during the joint press conference of the alliance at Hotel Maurya in Patna.
This announcement was made by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the presence of leaders of the constituent parties of the alliance.
Gehlot had said, “Tejashwi Yadav is young and a person of commitment. He has fulfilled his promises. He has a long career. Therefore, we have decided to contest this election under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav. He will be the face of our chief ministerial post.”
Gehlot also announced Mukesh Sahni as the face for the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
This decision comes after a long dispute between the constituent parties – especially RJD and Congress – over the seat sharing system and CM face.
As per the final formula, RJD will contest 143 seats while maintaining its strong presence on the ground, especially among the Muslim-Yadav (MY) voter base.
The Grand Alliance faced heavy criticism for failing to resolve internal differences even as the nomination deadline for the second phase approached.
The primary impasse arose due to the Congress party’s demand to contest 70 seats, the same number of seats it had contested in the 2020 assembly elections – a performance year in which it won only 19 seats, and recorded a strike rate of only 27 per cent.
–IANS
JK/DPB