Bihar assembly election 2025: Mahagathbandhan’s Chief Minister candidate for Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, has explained the reasons behind his decision to leave studies at an early stage and how he is sharpening his knowledge to remain a progressive politician. In an exclusive interview with the Indian Express, Tejashwi responded to Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor’s repeated questions on his educational qualifications.
Kishor, during his rallies, refers to Tejaswhi as “9th fail”, adding that it is Lalu Prasad Yadav who wants to make his son CM. When asked how he would respond to this, Tejashwi said he considers degrees important, but does not believe that knowledge emanates only from them.
“Time and again I have said degrees are important but knowledge does not emanate from them. I had to leave studies behind to pursue my passion for cricket,” the RJD leader said.
“However, since the day I entered public life, I have been building and refining my knowledge on everything that forms the core of progressive politics,” he added.
He said that people can check his track record and make their decision for Bihar election. “… so is my father’s contribution to Bihar and the country. Critics cannot digest that he heralded a social revolution to demand inclusion, representation and upliftment of the historically marginalised,” he added.
Prashant Kishor is just a media creation: Tejashwi Yadav
The opposition’s CM candidate also spoke on Prashant Kishor and his campaigning in the state. When asked why he does not often speak about him, Tejashwi said there is nothing concrete that he can speak of.
“What is there to say about him? Can you tell me one concrete thing he has done for the state? He is just a media creation and not a mass leader,” he said. Tejashwi added that Prashant Kishor, popularly called PK, only “makes and sells plans to others.
“He is a consultant who works behind the scenes for anyone who pays him and has nothing more to offer. Asking questions and setting narratives is easy when you do not have responsibility and no track record to defend. Real politics is about connecting with people, understanding their pain and delivering solutions. It is about standing by them in their struggles and not just appearing during elections with clever sound bites. The people of Bihar are wise and can tell the difference between someone who talks and someone who works,” he added.
‘It is very much required: Tejashwi on freebies
Freebies have often proved to be the turning point for elections in many states over the past decades, and yet parties accused each other of exhausting the same. Tejashwi, however, said that they are necessary, but said one should not refer to them as doles.
“Firstly, I would not call them doles. It is very much required. One cannot ask people to wait for bigger reforms to bear fruit when they are struggling to meet their basic needs. We have to provide them with interim relief till infrastructure and employment catch up. This is about basic human dignity and immediate survival,” he added.
He said that there are two things: immediate relief and long term transformation — adding that both “go hand-in-hand”. “The NDA calls it ‘revdi (freebies)’. They did not do much in the last four-and-a-half years and are now opening coffers in a bid to sway voters in their favour by offering doles, especially the Rs 10,000 each to a crore-plus women,” Tejashwi added.
Calling the schemes “sustainable”, he said the Rs 2,500 financial support to women under the proposed Mai Bahan Maan Yojana will allow them to “support themselves while improving their financial condition. The NDA’s promises are nothing but attempts at political manipulation”.
