PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal national working president Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Friday asserted that only regional parties could stop the BJP’s juggernaut and said they should come together to chalk out a strategy to address the issue.
Tejashwi’s statement came after Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee pitched for unity of the Opposition INDIA bloc following her party’s poor performance in the recently concluded state assembly polls.
Responding to a media query on whether efforts would be made to revive the INDIA bloc at the national level, as advocated by the TMC leader, Tejashwi said in Patna that all regional parties should unite to address the issue.
He said they should sit together and discuss the matter, adding that only regional parties could stop the BJP’s juggernaut. He stressed that this should be understood by all stakeholders, and that the INDIA bloc should be formed on a national scale in a more robust manner.
Referring to incidents in West Bengal, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly claimed that the BJP politicised violence in any state but remained silent on incidents in Bihar. “The double standards of the BJP on such issues have been exposed,” he told the media.
He also lashed out at the BJP and its allies over the issue of dynasty politics. RJD chief Lalu Prasad has been under attack from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for promoting his son Tejashwi in politics. PM Modi has referred to Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav as “shahzada” (princes) on several occasions in public rallies.
“Who will Prime Minister Narendra Modi call a ‘shahzada’ now?” Tejashwi asked at a press conference at the state RJD headquarters. He added that the BJP had now lost the moral right to speak on dynasty politics.
Notably, sons of three former chief ministers, Nitish Kumar, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Jagannath Mishra, have found a place in the state cabinet during its first expansion on Thursday. While it will be the maiden entry of Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant into the state cabinet, Manjhi’s son Santosh Kumar Suman and Mishra’s son Nitish Mishra have already served as ministers in the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
Like Nishant, Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash is not currently a member of either House of the state legislature. However, he has been appointed as a minister in the Samrat Choudhary cabinet. Deepak earlier served as Panchayati Raj minister in the Nitish Kumar government.
Tejashwi said that hurling abuses at RJD chief Lalu Prasad was one thing, but many present leaders had come from the “Lalu Pathshala”. He alleged that there were no “original BJP members” left in the party and claimed that in the future, the children of both Deputy Chief Ministers would also be seen in politics.
Notably, 17 of the ministers inducted in the Samrat Choudhary cabinet have political backgrounds. The total strength of the cabinet is 35, including the Chief Minister. There can be a maximum of 36 ministers in the 243-member state Assembly.