Coalition Strains
As Jharkhand prepares for its assembly elections, the complexities of seat-sharing within the INDIA bloc reveal both the strengths and challenges of coalition politics.
A day after he abruptly resigned as the patron of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) student wing, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav triggered speculations of a rift in the family by reportedly deciding on contesting from Saran Lok Sabha constituency.
The RJD has fielded Chandrika Rai from the Saran seat. Rai is the father-in-law of Tej Pratap Yadav. In the list of candidates the grand alliance released on Friday, Rai was named from Saran.
The 30-year-old Tej Pratap also reportedly threatened to quit the party.
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Though there is no official announcement, reports say that Tej Pratap Yadav may contest as an independent candidate from the seat which was won by his father four times.
The development comes less than 24 hours after Tej Pratap, who was the former Health Minister of Bihar, abruptly quit the party’s student wing.
In a tweet posted on Thursday afternoon, Tej Pratap also made a veiled attack on his critics.
“I am stepping down from the post of RJD’s student wing president,” read the tweet which was posted in Hindi.
“Naadaan hain vo log jo mujhe naadaan samjhte hain. Kaun kitna pani main hai, sabki hai khabar mujhe (Ignorant are those who think that I am naive. I know what everyone is up to),” he said in his cryptic tweet.
Read More: Tej Pratap Yadav abruptly resigns as RJD student wing president, posts cryptic tweet
Reports say that all is not well between Tej Pratap and his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly and is the in-charge of the affairs of the party.
According to reports, Tej Pratap wanted two of his protégés to be fielded from two Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. He was supposed to make an announcement in this regard but a scheduled RJD press briefing was cancelled at the last minute.
Tej Pratap is married to Aishwarya, Chandrika Rai’s daughter and granddaughter of former Chief Minister Daroga Rai, but has had troubled relations with his in-laws ever since he decided to divorce his wife. In November, he filed a petition in a court seeking divorce from Aishwarya and refused to withdraw the plea despite pressure from his family.
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