Tejaswi campaigning during the 2010 Assembly elections

Patna, April 17: First the mother, now the son.

After scripting a political return for wife Rabri Devi, Lalu Prasad has decided to blood his younger son Tejaswi Yadav, 23, in active politics.

Sources close to Lalu revealed that Tejaswi, a budding cricketer whose sporting career hasn’t quite taken off, is set to take over as the president of the RJD’s youth wing on June 11 when internal elections are due to be held. Youth RJD, as the arm is christened, is currently headed by former MLA Sheochandra Ram.

Officially, the RJD isn’t willing to reveal its cards. Ramchandra Purbey, who heads the party in Bihar, said he was ignorant about any such move. “I am not aware about any plan to restructure the RJD’s youth wing,” he said.

Neither Lalu, who is busy with the preparations of his daughter Anushka’s wedding on April 24, nor Tejaswi could be reached for comment.

But the sources confided to The Telegraph that Lalu has decided to take a leaf out of his one-time friend Mulayam Singh Yadav’s book and groom Tejaswi as a possible leader of the RJD in Bihar, where the party has been floundering ever since its successive electoral losses. Lalu, the sources said, realises that the organisation needs rejuvenation and is looking to his son to do that after he gets his moorings in the party. Mulayam scripted a stunning return of his Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh through his son Akhikesh Yadav.

A professional cricketer, Tejaswi has been a part of the Delhi Daredevils IPL team for the last two seasons but has so far not made it to the playing XI. The young man, who studied in Delhi Public School (RK Puram) in New Delhi, is the eighth of Lalu-Rabri’s nine children — seven daughters and two sons. The couple’s elder son Tej Pratap is a student of BN College in Patna but is trying to be an aviator besides dabbling in spiritualism.

That Lalu and Rabri were keen on introducing Tejaswi in politics became evident when the lad campaigned for his mother in the Sonepur and Raghopur Assembly constituencies in the 2010 elections. Though Rabri lost both the seats, Tejaswi got the opportunity to address the crowds briefly in the presence of party veterans, including his father as well as Vaishali MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.

There was widespread perception within the RJD in particular and the state’s political circles in general that the “patronage” of family members and relatives by Lalu Prasad was one of the main reasons for the party’s debacle in the state. Since the 2010 rout, Lalu’s relatives have been lying low.

However, the victory of the Mulayam-Akhilesh combination in Uttar Pradesh is believed to have goaded the embattled RJD boss to bring his son in the forefront, the sources said. Earlier this month, Lalu prepared the way for Rabri’s political return by getting her to file a nomination for the Legislative Council.

The incumbent Youth RJD president, Sheochandra Ram, was philosophical when asked about the possibility of losing his position to the scion. “We do not hold any position permanently in politics. The party can replace me with Tejaswi if it finds him more capable of delivering the goods,” Ram said. “As a true soldier of the RJD, I will abide by whatever decision the leadership takes.”

Will the 1989-born Tejaswi be able to do for the party in Bihar what Akhilesh has done for the Samajwadi in UP? RJD leaders are sceptical. “Akhilesh was an MP for three terms,” a senior RJD leader said, pointing to the experience of Mulayam’s son. “Tejaswi has miles to go before he can step into his father’s shoes. Laluji can foist him on the RJD but he can’t force the people to accept Tejaswi. For that Tejaswi has to prove himself.”

Bihar has been a cradle for political families to flourish. Congress veteran Lalit Narayan Mishra — the only Union minister in independent India to be assassinated while in office — had promoted his brother Jagannath Mishra who went on to become the state’s chief minister. Jagannath’s son Nitish Mishra is a minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh has two of his sons, Sumit Singh and Ajay Pratap Singh, in the Assembly as JD(U) members. Barring chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has kept his family members out of politics, many of the leaders cutting across the political spectrum have groomed their children in politics.