Tejashwi Yadav Missing From Bihar Govt Advertisement, Video; Is This Nitish Kumar's Next Gamble?

Amid the reports of a rift between the JD(U) and the RJD in Bihar, Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav appears to be being cornered by Nitish Kumar's party. The latest advertisement published by the Bihar Health Ministry only features CM Kumar while earlier such ads used to have photos of the CM and Deputy CM as well. A one-and-a-half-minute-long video shared on JDU's X handle praises Nitish and shows Tejashwi only for a few seconds.

सबकी मददगार... नीतीश सरकार।

बिहार में हर वर्ग और हर तबके के लोगों का हो रहा उत्थान।#JDU #bihar #Nitishkumar #NitishModel pic.twitter.com/odmfEj6NMt

— Janata Dal (United) (@Jduonline) January 20, 2024

The development came amid Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav's meeting with Nitish Kumar at the latter's residence. According to reports, Nitish Kumar has been upset with the RJD over several issues including seat-sharing. It was also reported that Tejashwi was trying to become CM when Lalan Singh was the president of the JDU. Kumar reportedly got more peeved after Lalu Yadav did not back him for the convenor post during the INDIA bloc's fourth meeting. 

Now, Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remark that the BJP would consider retaking Nitish Kumar in the NDA fold if a proposal comes from the JDU, has sparked speculations that Kumar may again switch sides. A JDU minister also claimed that Amit Shah never said that the doors of the NDA are not closed for Kumar.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav has maintained that there is no rift between the parties. "I feel sorry when you people ask questions that seem so divorced from ground reality. Why is there so much curiosity about when seat-sharing was likely to be final in Mahagathbandhan? Has the BJP-led NDA sorted it out in its own camp? Nobody cares about that," said Yadav.

Earlier, some RJD workers had put up a poster showing Tejashwi as the future Chief Minister.