PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s estranged son and former minister Tej Pratap Yadav on Monday hit back at his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav following the latter’s remark that “party is his parent”.
“Our respected public is bigger than any party. The party is the system, but the public is the master,” Tej Pratap said. He, however, expressed his displeasure over Tejashwi’s campaigning against him in the Mahua assembly constituency.
“If he has campaigned against me, I will also do the same thing in Raghopur assembly constituency from where he (Tejashwi) is seeking his reelection,” he told the media.
On Sunday, Tejaswhi, the chief ministerial face of the opposition INDIA bloc, campaigned in favour of RJD candidate Mukesh Raushan. The RJD leader appealed to the electorate to ensure victory of the party candidate.
Tej Pratap, who formed a new political out—Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD)—said that Mahua happened to be his political field. “It is more important to me than the party and family,” he asserted. Tej got elected for the first time from the Mahua assembly seat in 2015. In the 2020 assembly polls, he was shifted to Hasanpur in Samastipur, another Yadav-dominated constituency.
“If the people of Mahua want, I will become CM this time,” Tej said, claiming that 20–30 MLAs from his outfit are poised to win. “The key to power will be with me. We will support whoever promises an engineering college for Mahua,” he said, adding that it would be “Mahua’s good fortune” if the next CM emerged from there.
Tej’s jibes at Tejashwi reflected a bitter split within the Yadav family. The mercurial elder son was expelled from the RJD after admitting in a social media post to being “in a relationship for 12 years”, while his divorce case was still pending.