Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad today clarified there was no power struggle in the ruling Grand Alliance government in Bihar headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar yet “tomorrow belongs to young generation leaders” since they have now grown old.
“Both I and chief minister Nitish Kumar have grown old. So, now, it’s time for young leaders like Tejashwi,” Prasad has told the media, adding a fresh twist to the behind-the-curtain power struggle in Bihar. Tejashwi, who currently is the deputy chief minister in the Nitish Kumar government, is Prasad’s son.
The RJD chief said his son was still in the process of learning. “If the time comes, he will automatically become the chief minister,” added the RJD chief.
Prasad’s comment comes barely a day after his wife Rabri Devi backed the party demand to elevate Tejashwi Yadav to the post of chief minister. Devi said the people of Bihar wanted to see her son Tejashwi as the chief minister of Bihar. Rabri, who ruled the state for eight years while her husband was in and out of jail after his conviction in the multi-million fodder scam, came out in support of her son on the first day of the Bihar assembly’s budget session, which began on Thursday.
“The demand of my party lawmakers is right. Tejashwi has all the qualities of becoming the chief minister. The people of Bihar too want to see him in this role,” Rabri told the media on Thursday.
“In democracy, public is the real master and it is the wish of the people that matters. What [the] people want should be done,” she said.
She, however, conceded that Kumar was the rightful leader of the grand alliance whose tenure ends after five years.
The fresh development comes barely a week after a section of the RJD’s leadership backed Tejashwi as Kumar’s successor.
“The people of Bihar are looking at Tejashwi Yadav with great expectations. They want to see him as the chief minister of Bihar. They would not tolerate any other as the chief minister of Bihar than Tejashwi,” was how former RJD minister and lawmaker Surendra Prasad Yadav told a rally in Bihar last week.
His demand got instant support from another party leader Chandra Shekhar.
“He [Tejashwi] is fit for the job. The ease with which he is discharging his duty without getting involved in any controversies, Tejashwi indeed deserves to be the next CM [chief minister],” said the minister.
He, however, admitted that the deputy chief minister still needed to gain a little more experience.
The reaction of the ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U), which is headed by chief minister, was guarded.
“Everyone has the right to express himself in [a] democracy but for us Nitish Kumar is the undisputed leader of the grand alliance and there are just no differences among us over the issue of leadership,” remarked former JD-U lawmaker Shyam Raja, also a former minister.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came out in support of Devi, describing her demand as just.
“Her claim is natural since the RJD is the single largest party in the Bihar assembly. It won more seats than the JD-U,” remarked former deputy chief minister Sushikl Kumar Modi.
In the last 2015 assembly elections, the RJD emerged as the single largest party in the elections, winning 80 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly.
The other allies in the grand alliance, such as the JD-U and the Congress party, won 71 and 27 seats respectively.
