The rift between Tej Pratap Yadav and the RJD appears to be increasing with each passing day. Today, sulking Tej Pratap met Bihar Congress working president Ashok Ram. The meeting comes at a time when the speculations are rife about a fallout between the RJD and the Congress. Notably, trouble has been brewing within the grand alliance in Bihar since the RJD announced candidates on both seats for which bypolls have been announced.
According to a report in Hindustan, Ashok Ram has claimed that Tej Pratap will campaign for Congress in the Kusheshwar Asthan constituency. After the RJD announced its candidates, the Congress has now fielded Ashok Ram’s son Atirek Kumar from the seat. Notably, the Kusheshwar Asthan constituency is located adjacent to Hasanpur from where Tej Pratap is an RJD MLA.
While the RJD had claimed to have informed Congress about fielding candidates for both the seats, the Congress had earlier warned that if the RJD won’t withdraw its candidate, the party will also contest the polls. A four-cornered contest among the RJD-Congress-LJP (RV) and NDA may benefit the ruling alliance.
Ashok Ram said that if Tej Pratap campaigns for the Congress, it will certainly benefit the party. According to Ram, Tej Pratap is believed to have told him that he is discussing the current political developments with his supporters and may campaign for Congress if needed. Ashok Ram also claimed that Tej Pratap has already formed his own organisation and is working to strengthen it.
The feud between Tej Pratap and the RJD started after Lalu Yadav brought back Jagdanand Singh and made him the party’s state president. Jagdanand and Tej Pratap have been at loggerheads over various issues. Recently, RJD vice-president Shivanand Tiwari had claimed that Tej Pratap had been expelled from the party but there was no formal announcement. Tej Pratap had already stopped going to RJD’s office following Singh’s return.