Tejashwi Yadav: Nitish Kumar is not running for Prime Minister, and I am not in a hurry to become CM.
In an attempt to dispel rumours of a schism between the RJD and the JD(U), Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav declared on Monday that neither Chief Minister Nitish Kumar nor he wants to be Chief Minister after next year’s General Election. He emphasised that the Bihar Mahagathbandhan is doing well under Nitish Kumar’s leadership.
“I am glad working under Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister,” Tejashwi remarked in the Assembly during a debate on Budget allocations for the road development department. Neither Nitish Kumar nor I want to become Prime Minister or Chief Minister.”
“I would like to thank Nitish Kumar-ji for taking the extremely critical choice of severing ties with the BJP,” the RJD leader remarked. I’m trying to live up to the trust he’s placed in me.”
He also stated that “certain persons” had spread rumours of a “rift” between the two allies.
“I am dismayed by Opposition politicians targeting us and how they have been keeping quiet about corruption allegations faced by their own leaders,” Tejashwi remarked, referring to his suspected links to corruption cases.
He was alluding to BJP leader and Rajya Sabha Member Sushil Kumar Modi’s escalating campaign against him on corruption allegations. On Sunday, Sushil Modi asked Tejashwi to explain how his family “got” so much land in Patna.
On stage with Congress, Nitish and Tejashwi urge the party to unite the opposition ‘before it’s too late.’
While Tejashwi has made similar statements in the past, this is the first time he has spoken in the Assembly about Nitish’s lack of PM ambition and his current indifference in becoming Bihar CM. His statement comes amid speculation of tension between the Grand Alliance’s two largest partners, the RJD and the JD(U), particularly in light of recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI on the homes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family members in Patna, Delhi, and other locations in connection with various cases. Tejashwi is scheduled to appear before the CBI for interrogation in the IRCTC case next week.
According to an RJD insider, the party has “definitely” been put under strain due to the “over-activism” of the Central agencies. “We can never be certain of Nitish Kumar’s next move,” the insider stated. It is tactical for us not to put pressure on him to hand over the CM position to Tejashwi. The party has instructed its leaders not to say anything negative about Nitish Kumar.”
