A day after state Rashtriya Janata Dal president Jagdanand Singh said that party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav would become Chief Minister of Bihar as soon as in 2023, Mr. Yadav clarified that he was neither in a hurry, nor having the desire to become Chief Minister of the State.
Mr. Yadav also suggested party leaders to refrain from making such statements.
“There is nothing like making me the Chief Minister. I have no such desire nor I am in a hurry for this,” said Tejashwi Yadav on Friday.
“Our main target was to remove BJP-RSS from the seat of power and we’ve done this in Bihar”, he added.
“Now we should strive to unite the Opposition parties. Nitish Kumar ji is already the Chief Minister of Bihar and the government under him is working well in the State,” Mr. Yadav said in a video message.
He also suggested party leaders and workers to refrain from making such comments in public. “But, they (party leaders and supporters) love us and sometime make such comments in enthusiasm,” he added.
Earlier, state RJD chief Jagdanand Singh had said that Tejashwi would become Chief Minister of the State “as soon as 2023”.
Party chief Lalu Prasad and spokesperson Bhai Birendra too had echoed similar sentiment. “My younger son Tejashwi Yadav would definitely become Chief Minister,” asserted Lalu Prasad.
JD(U) responds
However, the RJD leaders statement unsettled the ruling alliance as JD(U) leaders said that Nitish Kumar “will complete his five year term as the Chief Minister of the State”.
“Let the people say what they like but Nitish Kumar would complete his five year term as CM,” said JD(U) leader and minority welfare minister Mohd Zama Khan.
JD(U) parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha took a potshot over it and said, “We don’t find anything objectionable in Jagada Babu’s statement but it was like that of a father who always worries to settle the family by marrying his children.”
BJP weighs in
Meanwhile, the BJP suggested RJD could appoint Tejashwi Yadav Chief Minister by causing split in JD(U) as Nitish Kumar has a track record of “not honoring any coalition dharma with his allies”.
“Nitish betrayed BJP and Lalu ji twice each, Jitan Ram Manjhi once and thrice the people of Bihar in the past 10 years. How can he be relied on now?” asked senior state BJP leader and party Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi.
“If RJD leaders statement are any indicators, the party still treats Nitish Kumar as enemy number one and wants to get rid of him very soon. All these statements are coming at the behest of RJD chief Lalu Prasad,” said BJP state vice-president Rajib Ranjan.
“The knot between the RJD and JD(U) seems to be slowly untying as it is evident from the RJD’s hurry to appoint Tejashwi Yadav as the next CM of the state,” he said.
