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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Congress invites Tejas to swearing-in of its CMs

The RJD leader plans to witness the ceremonies of Congress chief ministers in 3 states

Sanjeev Verma Patna Published 15.12.18, 10:42 PM
Tejashwi Yadav

Tejashwi Yadav The Telegraph file picture

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav plans to take part in the oath-taking ceremonies of the Congress chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Tejashwi, a former deputy chief minister of Bihar, received a call from the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Friday requesting him to attend the programmes, to be held at different times of the day on December 17.

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“We got a call from the Congress office on Friday evening requesting Tejashwi’s participation in all the three oath-taking ceremonies,” a close aide of the RJD leader told The Telegraph on Saturday.

He said the Congress had been informed that Tejashwi was willing to take part in all the three ceremonies, but it would not be possible if special arrangements were not made as there were no connecting flights between Jaipur, Bhopal and Raipur on the same day.

The aide said that in all likelihood Tejashwi, the younger son of RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad, would reach Delhi on December 16 and fly to the three places in the special plane in which Congress president Rahul Gandhi would travel on December 17.

“The Congress will inform us about the itinerary details by Saturday evening,” the aide said.

This is not the first time that Tejashwi has been invited by the Congress to take part in an oath-taking ceremony. He had attended the swearing-in of H.D. Kumaraswamy as Karnataka chief minister earlier this year.

The Congress allied with Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular to form the government in the southern state after the BJP emerged as the single-largest party, and the oath-taking event turned into a demonstration of Opposition unity with many leaders taking part in it.

Since Lalu Prasad was sentenced to jail in connection with fodder scam cases last year and he took ill, Tejashwi has been the main face of the RJD at the national level. He has been attending Opposition meetings for a proposed grand alliance before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The RJD and the Congress have been in an alliance for almost two decades. The ties got strengthened further when the UPA came to power at the Centre in 2004 and Lalu Prasad and some other MPs of his party got ministerial berths.

Commenting on the invite extended to Tejashwi by the Congress, RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said on Saturday: “This shows how much importance the Congress gives to our party and our leader Tejashwi Yadav.”

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