Lalu’s sons cross swords in power tussle; no sign of early truce

All eyes are now on RJD chief Lalu Prasad as his two sons – Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav – are locked in a battle of supremacy. But there’s little possibility of an early end to the hostilities between the two. Tej Pratap is sharpening his attack on Tejashwi. On the other hand, Tejashwi, reportedly enjoying the blessings of Lalu, is in no mood to relent, and is sermonizing his elder brother, Tej Pratap, on discipline.

There was a possibility of a fragile truce between Tej Pratap and Tejashwi when their parents, Lalu and Rabri Devi, and their six sisters were present in New Delhi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on August 22. But there was no sign of it as Tej Pratap reached the residence of Misa Bharti (Lalu’s eldest daughter) for celebration at night as she tied rakhi on the former when Tejashwi was not around.

Lalu, Rabri and Misa have reportedly backed Tejashwi in their meeting over differences between two brothers, sending clear message that Tej Pratap will not have the family support if he continues to create difficulties for his brother. It has to be seen how Tej Pratap responds to his family’s clear ‘no’ to his behaviour.

The latest round of clash between the two brothers started when Tej Pratap called state RJD chief Jagdanand Singh, considered close to Lalu, Hitler in a meeting of Youth RJD in Patna on August 8. Singh stopped attending the state party office and did not unfurl the Tricolour at the state party office on Independence Day, considered unprecedented in the party. Instead of Singh, Tejashwi unfurled the national flag at the party office.

What led to the rift

The relationship between Tej Pratap and Jagdanand soured when the latter appointed Gagan Kumar as the party’s youth president in place of Akash Yadav, a nominee of Tej Pratap.

It triggered a sharp exchange between Tej Pratap and Jagdanand, further pushing Tejashwi away from his elder brother. Both Tejashwi and Jagdanand are running the party under the guidance of Lalu as Tej Pratap simply does not fit in the scheme of things, commented a political analyst.

Also read: Country hit by economic crisis, social harmony at stake: Lalu speaks after 3 yrs

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Tej Pratap wanted the party ticket from three seats for his supporters and had served a two-day ultimatum on his brother Tejashwi to decide the issue. When Tejashwi did not oblige, he fielded his own candidates on these seats.

RJD strongman Surendra Yadav was defeated from Jehanabad because Tej Pratap had fielded his own unofficial candidate from the seat. RJD had drawn a blank in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Had Surendra Yadav won from Jehanabad seat, the party could have had at least one member in the Lok Sabha. The NDA had won 39 out of 40 seats in 2019 as only Congress won Kishanganj seat in the election. It was the first time in the history of the RJD that it could not win even a single seat.

Tej Pratap has even threatened of launching ‘Mahabharat’ if he was not given his small share of power in the party by drawing parallels between his fight against party leadership with the epic war.

The flashpoint

Even as Tej Pratap and Tejashwi kept attacking each over, their feud reached a flash point when Tej visited 10, Circular Road, the official residence of his mother Rabri Devi, where Tejashwi also lives, to discuss the issue of differences between him and state RJD chief Singh.

“Even when I started talking with Tejashwi, Sanjay Yadav (political advisor of Tejashwi) intervened and took him away. He did not allow me to talk to my younger brother,” Tej Pratap alleged.

Soon later, Tejaswi left for Delhi to meet Lalu, saying the visit was meant for Raksha Bandhan celebration as his six sisters live in the Delhi-NCR region. He said he had to leave since he is also a member of an all-party delegation led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for pressing their demand for a caste census in the country.

The ‘third man’

Tej Pratap has accused Sanjay Yadav, political advisor of Tejaswi, of conspiring to create differences between him and Tejashwi. A native of Haryana, Sanjay is an MBA degree holder and comes from a political family. He knows Tejashwi since his cricket days. Earlier, Sanjay had worked with former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Sanjay and Tejashwi became friends for the first time in 2012. When Tejashwi joined politics, Sanjay started working for him as a full-time political advisor.

RJD leaders claim it was Sanjay who had first flagged the party top leadership about RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s remark about “the need to review reservations” in the middle of the 2015 Assembly elections.

Subsequently, Lalu had alleged that the BJP was against backward castes. It helped the grand alliance significantly in the polls.

Also read: Caste-based census: Bihar delegation meets Modi; PM non-committal

What analysts say

Political analyst Dr Sanjay Kumar says the RJD leadership will continue to sideline Tej Pratap in the backdrop of RJD emerging as the single largest party in the 2020 state assembly election under the stewardship of Tejashwi. He said the RJD is also transforming into a ‘disciplined’ party under the leadership of Jagdanand Singh. In such a situation, Tej Pratap is left with little choice other than to accept reality.

Dr Kumar says Lalu is unlikely to take any action against Tej Pratap as he has not done so in the past despite his son’s tantrums. He said Lalu’s children — Tej Pratap, Misa Bharti (RJD Rajya Sabha member) or Rohini Acharya, would want to become power centres, but Lalu is firm on giving the party’s command to Tejaswi.

Political commentator Indrajit Singh said: “The relationship between two brothers has not taken an ugly turn so far because the ailing Lalu has been able to bring about a truce. But the future looks bleak.”