The reason behind the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) pitching chief minister Nitish Kumar as the Prime Ministerial candidate has finally been decoded.

The RJD headed by Lalu Prasad is a coalition partner in the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, along with the Congress.

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The whole idea behind endorsing Kumar as “PM material” came to fore on Monday when a former RJD minister on Monday projected RJD chief’s deputy chief minister son Tejashwi Yadav as the successor of Nitish Kumar.

“The country will face the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 during which we will project Nitish Kumar as the PM candidate. In such a situation there will be a vacancy for the chief minister of Bihar which will automatically get filled up by Tejashwi Yadav,” former RJD minister Surendra Prasad Yadav told the media on Monday. The development comes amid the Congress trying hard to project party vice-president Rahul Gandhi for this job.

Yadav who is currently a RJD legislator from Belaganj seat in Bihar Assembly said they would not tolerate any other as the chief minister of Bihar other than Tejashwi who is suave and has experience in running the state administration as well.

“PM Nitish ko banayenge aur CM Tejashwi ko,” he asserted. The ex RJD minister made this announcement while the deputy CM was in southern Bihar town of Gaya to address a division-level public meeting which was attended by an impressive crowds comprising mostly youths.

Yadav’s demand got instant support from another party leader and Bihar disaster management 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,” said the minister. He though added the deputy CM needs to gain a little bit more experience.

Last year, RJD chief Prasad himself had lent his full support to Kumar’s PM dream announcing his party would be the first to back his candidature for country’s top job.

“Yes, of course, there is no second thought on this,” was how Prasad had told the media on being asked if the RJD would support Kumar for PM. He added there wouldn’t any more pleasure than seeing someone from his own state becoming the Prime Minister.

Observers say the idea is not all of a sudden but is latent with a strong political meaning. According to them, the RJD himself can’t contest any election for his conviction in the multi-million dollar fodder scam and hence he wants to somehow put his son on the throne of Bihar.

Reports said his desire got a sudden boost after seeing Akhilesh Yadav on the throne of UP in a quiet shifting of power within the family.