Patna: A day after the RJD-led alliance suffered a major setback in the Bihar Assembly elections, the simmering tensions in Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family erupted into full public view, with his daughter Rohini Acharya announcing that she is quitting politics and distancing herself from the family.
The development came hours after she scrubbed her social media account, unfollowing Lalu, her brother and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, and several key RJD leaders. The move immediately triggered speculation of a deeper rift inside the family at a time when the party is battling its worst political moment in years.
In her announcement, Rohini said she was stepping away from politics altogether, describing the decision as final. The declaration followed days of online sparring and cryptic posts amid reports of discontent within the Yadav household.
“I am quitting politics and I am disowning my family…This is what Sanjay Yadav and Rameez had asked me to do…and I am taking all the blame,” she wrote on X.
Sanjay Yadav, a Rajya Sabha MP from the RJD, is among Tejashwi Yadav’s closest aides. Rameez is known to be an old friend of Tejashwi’s, belonging to a political family from Uttar Pradesh.
The family dispute had burst into the open during the peak of the campaign, when Rohini first unfollowed top leaders and was seen distancing herself from the party’s inner circle. Her actions were linked by party insiders to growing unease over the influence of Sanjay Yadav, whose role in party decisions has become a persistent flashpoint.
Rohini had earlier denied any ambition to contest elections, rejecting claims that she was seeking a ticket. She had insisted publicly that she had “no desire for a party post,” pushing back against suggestions that she was eyeing a political role. Her decision to now withdraw entirely adds a fresh layer to the crisis.
Speculations had been rife that she was “unhappy” over the expulsion of Tej Pratap Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s elder son, from the party. The dispute is particularly striking considering Rohini’s deep personal commitment to her father — she donated a kidney to Lalu Prasad in 2022. The sudden break has therefore raised eyebrows both within the RJD and outside it.
