NEW DELHI: Tejashwi Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, initiated the ‘Bihar Adhikar Yatra’ from Jehanabad on Tuesday to amplify his party’s stand against the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government. The campaign targets issues such as unemployment and rising crime rates in the state as the assembly elections approach.
This solo Yatra from Tejashwi follows the recent “Voter Adhikaar Yatra,” which featured leaders from the Mahagathbandhan coalition and was spearheaded by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. While Tejashwi participated in the earlier campaign, Rahul Gandhi captured significant media attention with his critiques concerning alleged electoral fraud facilitated by the Election Commission to benefit the BJP.
The RJD aims to address districts overlooked in the “Voter Adhikaar Yatra.” RJD MP Sanjay Yadav explained that the party’s grassroots leaders expressed a need for representation in those districts, prompting Tejashwi’s decision to launch this Yatra to honor their requests.
Notably, Tejashwi’s initiative coincides with ongoing debates regarding the chief ministerial candidate for the Mahagathbandhan and unresolved seat-sharing negotiations. During a rally in Muzaffarpur, Tejashwi stated, “And this time, Tejashwi will contest all 243 seats, whether it is Muzaffarpur, Kanti or Bochahan,” a declaration aimed at solidifying his position as the leader of the opposition alliance.
Despite the RJD being the largest party within the coalition, having secured 75 seats in the last elections, the Congress has refrained from endorsing Tejashwi as the chief ministerial candidate. During the “Voter Adhikaar Yatra,” when questioned about this lack of support, Gandhi avoided giving a direct answer, focusing instead on the harmony among coalition partners.
He emphasized, “A very strong partnership had been forged. All the parties (in the bloc) are working in sync. There’s no tension, and there’s mutual respect to help each other as we are ideologically and politically aligned. The result will be good. But the vote theft needs to be stopped.”
This response may reflect a strategic choice to maintain leverage in the coalition amid ongoing discussions about seat distribution. The RJD had contested 144 seats in the previous assembly elections, winning 75, while the Congress struggled, winning only 19 out of the 70 seats it contested. Conversely, Left parties performed notably well, with the CPI-ML achieving 12 out of 19 contested seats.
With additional parties now part of the opposition alliance, negotiations for seat-sharing will likely be complicated. Reports indicate rising pressures on both the RJD and Congress to minimize their shares to accommodate other coalition members.
While the Congress Party in Bihar lacks the standing to openly challenge Tejashwi’s leadership, it can influence negotiations during seat-sharing discussions, highlighting the RJD’s freshly launched campaign as an effort to assert its dominance within the alliance as the elections approach.
