PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday said the Grand Alliance (GA) will not contest Bihar Assembly elections without a CM face, mounting pressure on the partners.
“Are we the BJP which does not have any face? We will definitely not contest elections without projecting a CM face,” he told a news channel during his Bihar Adhikar Yatra, which concluded in Vaishali.
The Congress, which did not endorse Tejashwi as CM face of the GA, has said the people of Bihar will decide the CM after the election due in October-November.
Toeing the Congress’ line, CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the Opposition bloc will contest polls without a CM face. He, however, hastened to add that Tejashwi is the natural choice for the CM’s post. “The CM’s name will be decided only after the alliance wins the election,” he told the media.
Tejashwi, on the other hand, declared Rahul Gandhi as INDIA bloc’s PM candidate at the national level. But Rahul remained non-committal on endorsing Tejashwi as CM face. “People of Bihar will decide the CM after the election,” said Krishna Allavaru, AICC in-charge of Bihar.
During Bihar Adhikar Yatra, SIR of electoral rolls and slogan ‘Vote Chor Gaddi Chor’, rallying cry of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, featured only as a concluding slogan. Tejashwi focused on unemployment, migration, price rise, corruption, poor law and order and lack of industrialisation. “The shift in approach compared to the campaign he carried out alongside Rahul indicates that Tejashwi may be aiming for more than just reinforcing his CM candidature,” said an analyst.