Rahul Gandhi on stage, Tejashwi Yadav declares himself chief ministerial face

BIHAR, AUG 30 : RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav unilaterally declared himself as the chief ministerial face of the Grand Alliance in Bihar on Sunday as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ concluded on a dramatic note on Sunday.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, who has so far sidestepped the question on the alliance’s face, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, was present on the dais when Tejashwi made the announcement.

Addressing a rally in Ara, Tejashwi launched a sharp attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, labelling him a “copycat Chief Minister”.

The former Bihar deputy chief minister alleged that Nitish was just copying his policies and making announcements.

“Tejashwi is moving ahead. The government is following behind,” the RJD leader said to loud cheers from the crowd.

Tejashwi then went on to ask the public whether they wanted an “original chief minister” or a “duplicate CM”. He went on to proclaim himself as the “original chief ministerial” candidate of the alliance even as Rahul Gandhi looked on.

By putting his stamp on the alliance’s leadership question, Tejashwi signalled that while the Congress might be a national party, the RJD was the big brother in Bihar.

LoP in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav during the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ (PTI)

WHY CONGRESS HASN’T ENDORSED TEJASHWI

However, the silence from Rahul and the Congress on the chief ministerial face has been mystifying. This, despite the camaraderie between Rahul and Tejashwi in full public view during the Voter Adhikar Yatra.

Sources previously told India Today that the Congress’s hesitation in endorsing Tejashwi was likely linked to the seat-sharing negotiations. Congress is wary of not getting the desired number of seats from the RJD.

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, the Congress contested 70 seats, but won only 19. The poor performance affected the overall tally of the Grand Alliance even though the RJD emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats.

This time too, the Congress is keen on contesting a similar number of seats, sources said.

-PTI