New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav’s provocative declaration has escalated political tensions as Bihar prepares for its high-stakes assembly elections.
In a public rally in Muzaffarpur’s Kanti area on Saturday, Yadav boldly announced that the RJD would contest all 243 seats in the state, a move that has ignited fresh speculation about fractures in the INDIA alliance, particularly the longstanding RJD-Congress partnership.
Addressing a crowd after unveiling a statue of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Tejashwi urged voters to cast their ballots based on his face alone, positioning himself as the face of Bihar’s future.
“Tejashwi will contest from every corner,” he proclaimed, emphasising his vision for propelling the state forward. This speech comes amid ongoing deliberations over seat-sharing within the INDIA bloc, where no final agreement has been reached on how many constituencies each ally will fight.
The statement has amplified tensions, especially as the alliance grapples with complexities from recent additions like Jharkhand Mukti Morcha under Hemant Soren and Lok Janshakti Party led by Pashupati Paras.
Political observers note that such a unilateral claim could pressure smaller partners, including Congress, to concede more ground.
In the 2020 elections, RJD had fielded candidates in 144 seats, securing 75 wins to emerge as the bloc’s largest player, while Congress contested 70 and won 19.
Krishna Allavaru, Congress’s Bihar in-charge, recently hinted that all parties might need to sacrifice seats to accommodate new entrants.
Tejashwi didn’t hold back from criticising the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, accusing it of lacking vision and merely copying his ideas. He highlighted rampant issues like daily abductions and murders of businessmen, widespread corruption from police stations to headquarters, and the looting of the poor under what he called “Nitish’s misrule”. “The government is exhausted; every poor person is suffering from this bad governance,” he thundered.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swiftly hit back, dismissing Tejashwi’s ambitions as delusional. BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar mocked, “Stop dreaming, Tejashwi Yadav. You don’t have the strength to fight all 243 seats alone. The move is just pressure tactics on Congress and allies, but Bihar’s people remember the fodder scam and land-for-jobs scandal. They’ll vote for Nitish Kumar and PM Modi under NDA.”
With seat-sharing talks still in flux for both the NDA and INDIA blocs, Tejashwi’s appeal has energised his base and raised eyebrows about the alliance’s unity. As Bihar’s electorate watches closely, this could either solidify RJD’s dominance or unravel the Opposition’s fragile coalition, setting the stage for a fiercely-contested poll battle.
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