Patna: Ahead of Assembly elections in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi has been largely targeting the Election Commission of India (ECI) and BJP for large-scale ‘vote chori’ during his two-week Voter Adhikar Yatra.
As the Congress leader’s massive campaign nears an end in the poll-bound state, it was Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav who stole the show on Saturday.
Addressing a rally in Ara, in the presence of Rahul, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders, Tejashwi declared himself as the chief ministerial face of the grand alliance in Bihar.
“Tejashwi is moving ahead… The government is following behind,” the RJD leader said amid loud cheers from the crowd.
He asked the public whether they wanted an “original chief minister” or a “duplicate CM”, and went on to proclaim himself as the “original chief ministerial” candidate of the alliance.
It was a message for Rahul, who looked on.
The Congress MP, who is leading the charge in a bid to oust the BJP and Janata Dal (United) government headed by Nitish Kumar, has thus far sidestepped the question on the alliance’s face in Bihar. This, despite the visible camaraderie and chemistry between Rahul and Tejashwi during the Voter Adhikar Yatra.
Tejashwi’s unilateral announcement on the leadership question was meant to convey that while the Congress may a national party, RJD was the ‘big brother’ in Bihar.
According to political analysts, the Congress’ hesitation in endorsing Tejashwi could be linked to ongoing seat-sharing negotiations.
Congress is wary of not getting the desired number of seats from the RJD.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, Congress won only 19 of the 70 seats it contested in. Despite RJD emerging as the single largest party with 75 seats, Congress’ low tally pulled down the overall performance of the grand alliance.
The Congress is learnt to be keen on contesting a similar number of seats this time as well, but RJD is not convinced.