An RJD MP considered close to Lalu Prasad has launched a campaign to anoint Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister before 2020 when the next Assembly election is due, the statement again laying bare the fragile nature of the "grand alliance" of two parties that not too long ago had been bitter rivals clawing at each other.
Shailesh Kumar, better known as Bulo Mandal, the Lok Sabha member from Bhagalpur, said the young workers of the RJD were working hard to achieve the goal and Tejashwi would be elevated to the top post of the state well before the next Assembly election.
"The youths of Bihar want to see Tejashwi ji as chief minister of Bihar, our team is working hard to achieve this. I also feel that he has proved himself and the people of our state have great expectations from Tejashwiji. I think he should occupy the post of chief minister," Mandal told The Telegraph from Bhagalpur, where he is currently meeting flood victims.
Mandal, considered a confidant of the RJD boss, has not only launched the Tejashwi-for-CM campaign in his own parliamentary consistency but also in other districts such as Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and West Champaran.
The RJD leader made this the talking point of his speeches at two back-to-back rallies of the party's youth wing in Motihari and Bagaha earlier this month.
Asked about the fate of chief minister Nitish Kumar if Tejashwi were to get the post, Mandal said: "Here I am not talking about Nitish Kumar, I am just talking about people who want to see Tejashwi ji as CM and I must tell you that we are not going to wait for the next Assembly election, as soon as we get the opportunity, Tejashwiji would be elevated to the top post."
Mandal had defeated the BJP's Muslim face Shahnawaz Hussain in the 2014 general election and became an MP for the first time. In May this year, he was appointed national president of the RJD youth wing, a reward, party sources say, for his unflinching loyalty to the Lalu clan. Mandal is an old guard of the RJD and before getting the Lok Sabha ticket, he was a three-term MLA from Bihpur in Bhagalpur which is now represented by his wife Varsha Rani.
Asked about Mandal's campaign, Tejashwi said: "Being in a party, people do make such demands, that is their opinion but it is not one person's decision. It is the people of the state who decide whom they want to see as chief minister. Moreover, I am just concentrating on my work as I am still learning. I have been learning from my father, my mother and of course Nitish ji."
The JDU said Mandal should remember his boss Lalu Prasad's assurance that Nitish would be the chief minister even if the RJD won more seats. "Till now, Laluji has stuck to his words. So, I would ask Mandal not to forget what Laluji had said," said JDU spokesman Neeraj Kumar.
