Patna: All is well in the RJD and there is no threat in the absence of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav told The Telegraph over phone from Ranchi before starting for Patna.
"Everything is normal in our party and the people of Bihar are standing like a rock behind Lalu ji," Tejashwi said. "They all know my father has been falsely implicated in the fodder scam case despite having no role in it. If at all there is a misconception that things will not work out in my father's absence, I must say that all is well in the RJD."
Tejashwi went to Ranchi along with Lalu on December 22, a day before the judgment in the case, and was with him throughout. On the day of conviction, Tejashwi was allowed to meet Lalu briefly. He has not met him since.
On Monday he decided to return to Patna as inmates of Birsa Munda Central Jail are not allowed to meet more than three people a week.
Asked about the possibility of a revolt in the RJD in Lalu's absence, Tejashwi said: "You must have heard Jagdanand Singh, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Mangni Lal Mandal, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Ram Chandra Purbey and Shivanand Tiwari. Did any of their statements convey revolt? They are the seniormost leaders in the party and are like my guardians. Under their guidance and support of the people the RJD will emerge stronger."
Tejashwi said in the past few months, before going to jail, Lalu had chalked out a plan on how the party will function in his absence and things are moving accordingly. He also said it was not the first time his father had gone to jail and that the party had faced a similar situation in the past also.
"The saffron party and its supporters should not cook up stories just because my father is in jail," Tejashwi said. "We have passed through this stage several times and have full faith in the judiciary. The party will approach the higher court and we will get justice."
There was speculation that once Lalu goes to jail, the anti-BJP force he was trying to create would lose steam, but Tejashwi claimed the anti-BJP force was already in place. "In the past few months, I have met several leaders from different political parties for the anti-BJP force and they are all with Lalu ji. Soon after the conviction, I got calls from Rahul Gandhiji, Akhilesh Yadav ji and Mamata Banerjee. They all extended their support to my father," Tejashwi said.
Asked about the RJD's future strategy, Tejashwi said: "We will go to the court of the people of Bihar and tell them how my father was falsely charged. We will tour the state after Makar Sankranti to expose chief minister Nitish Kumar and the number of scams that took place in his regime."
