Tejashwi should be beaten up: On RJD's Foundation Day, cracks appear within party

PATNA: All is not well within the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD), which celebrated its 26th foundation day on Friday in Patna. Party leader Tejashwi Yadav's absence from the function has raised quite a few eyebrows.

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Attacking Tejashwi, senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari said, “We want that Tejaswhi should be beaten up, face police batons, sent to jail in Nitish government. Lalu ji will be in tension in current situation.” His statement received a round of applause from RJD workers attending the event.

The senior RJD leader suggested that Tejaswi should take a leaf out of Lalu Prasad Yadav's book and come forward to meet people. “You have to come forward, do struggle. Lion's son sitting in the den is not right. It will not work at all.”

Further dissecting the party's principles, Tiwari added, “There is a cessation in RJD's ideology. The water in a pond is standstill, it stinks while the river water always flows. There is no charm in secularism and social justice. Yet, we are still carrying the same ideology.... The issue of nationalism dominated the whole country during election. We didn't give reply of Modi's agenda.”

Questioning RJD's action in the death of children due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Muzaffarpur, Tiwari asked, “In Muzaffarpur AES death case, what have we done? Only khana purti. We didn't fight for the victim families.”

Fearing internal strife within the party, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi defended Tejaswi. “What can he do alone,” she said Friday, further asking senior leaders to face the public.

Tejashwi, the former Deputy Chief Minister (CM) and younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, has not been seen in public for nearly a month now following the party's debacle in Lok Sabha elections in May 2019.

Bihar minister Vijay Sinha has claimed that Tejashwi has reportedly put forward the condition for removal of his brother Tej Pratap Yadav from RJD. Quoting a source, Sinha said that it is because this condition, Lalu’s younger son had been absent from Bihar political circles and Assembly session.

Tejashwi's absence triggered a row in the Bihar Assembly last week, following which the 29-year-old leader took to Twitter to dispel all rumours. “My Dear Bihar! I am very much here,” he wrote, adding that he's undergoing treatment for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury.

Missing posters, awarding Rs 5100 cash prize to the one who finds, Tejashwi had also surfaced in Bihar's Muzaffarpur.