Lalu empowers Tejashwi in a bid to prevent rifts, splits and heartburn in RJD

Given this backdrop of splits and family fall-outs, Bihar's principal opposition party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by party national president and former chief minister Lalu Prasad, took a decision last week to try and preempt any such development.

The party moved a resolution at its national executive meeting, authorising Lalu's younger son — already considered the heir apparent to the 77-year-old Yadav chieftain — to make decisions on distributing party tickets, party symbols and the party’s flag together with the party chief. Technically, the resolution means Tejashwi — who is the leader of the opposition and RJD's chief ministerial face for the upcoming 2025 polls -- is second in command in the party, now having powers at par with RJD chief, giving him the coveted status of 'de facto' head of the party.

However, many believe, the decision taken just ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar in October-November was timed to not just elevate Tejashwi's stature given that the 35-year-old already enjoys clout in the party. He steered the party during Lalu's incarcerations in the fodder scam cases from 2017 to April 2021 and missed the chance of becoming the chief minister by a small margin after the RJD-Congress-Left coalition of Mahagatbanhdan won 110 seats in the 2020 polls with RJD winning 75 seats.

It's a preemptive move to insulate the party from any attempt to destabilise the outfit, a coup engineered by the legislator or rival parties and most importantly, tame sibling rivalry by sending a clear message to Tejashwi's siblings be it elder brother and MLA, Tej Pratap, or eldest sister Misa Bharti. The message is clear: the former deputy CM is now the only official voice and face of the party after RJD chief.

"Tejashwi has over the last many years become the face of the party after Lalu Prasad and is calling the shots on seat sharing with allies in any election, selection of party nominees or other programmes. The resolution was passed for two reasons: one, defining Tejashwi's position in the party as number two after Lalu Prasad and secondly, to give the party a shield to handle any adverse situation or attempts to destabilise it and prevent disputes arising in the name of the party or the symbol of the party as happened with parties in Maharashtra. Now, Tejashwi and the RJD chief both can make decisions on the party’s symbol, flag and tickets,” said a senior RJD functionary who asked not to be named.

Insiders in the party said the RJD chief, known for his political astuteness, has been cautious in passing on the baton to his younger son, knowing well how it could antagonise senior leaders in the party and also, possibly, trigger a feud in the family. Bharti became a Lok Sabha MP from the Patliputra constituency in 2024 while Rohini unsuccessfully contested the Saran parliamentary seat in the 2024 polls. Pratap, a former minister, is a sitting MLA from Hassanpur assembly seat in Samastipur district).

“Lalu has apparently taken a cue from the episode of a family feud in the Samajwadi Party and apprehends that the party could face a crisis if the baton is passed completely to his younger son. This is why, he is making all moves cautiously in a bid to avoid any dispute in the family among his children by shying away from openly declaring Tejashwi his heir apparent. Even senior leaders want this as it's the best way to preempt any move of a split in the party,” said a senior RJD leader, close to the former railway minister, who also asked not to be named.

“The resolution has given Tejashwi powers to take key decisions on behalf of the RJD chief but Lalu still remains the party head and has the powers to take a final call on any dispute. That is a clever move for maintaining a power balance in the party,” he added. Lalu, despite a kidney transplant in 2022, continues to be politically active by making all final decisions on the selection of candidates, shaping political strategies or talking with allies, be it Congress or the Left parties.

Significantly, sibling rivalry in the RJD's first family came to the fore a few years ago when Tej Pratap expressed discontentment over the way his loyalists were sidelined in the state RJD organisation, taking indirect potshots at his younger brother.

In the 2020 assembly polls, Tej Pratap is said to have demanded a few seats for his loyalists but later relented. In the last few years, however, Tejashwi's siblings have maintained a low profile by not making any dissenting comments, indicating the RJD chief may have prevailed on his children to not show dissent in public over the growing stature of their younger brother in the party. Tej Pratap recently reiterated his younger brother was like "Arjun"- the Pandava prince - and equated himself to his "Krishna”, who played the role of charioteer or "Sarathi" during the epic war of Mahabharata by guiding the Pandava prince during the war.

“Sibling rivalry in all political families is common. How far it would remain under control is uncertain in the RJD and cannot be predicted. But there are still doubts whether the transition of power to Tejaswhi would be very smooth in the coming days,” said the senior leader of a partner party in the Grand Alliance (GA).

Incidentally, many believe, the growing stature of Tejashwi has created new power camps in the party with leaders close to the Yadav scion gaining clout. State president of the RJD, Jagdanand Singh, 77, who is considered a Lalu loyalist and Tejashwi’s mentor, is said to be sulking after the defeat of his son Ajit Singh from Ramgarh in the November by-polls.

Disagreements between Lalu and Tejashwi over issues have come to the fore as recently the RJD chief's bid to make a big statement that his party was open to re-align with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar despite the latter's U-turns in the past was promptly, contradicted by Tejashwi. " No, our doors for CM Kumar are not open,” he said.

The rival Janata Dal (United) and BJP were quick to take potshots at the statements asserting how a 'rift' has started in the RJD with father and son now making contradictory statements. "There are already several factions in the RJD. Lalu Prasad is now sidelined in the party by his son, Tejashwi,” said JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar.

Nonetheless, Lalu,77, who lost power in 2005 to the NDA and later his party shared power in state government with the JD(U) following political re-alignment in 2015 and 2022 appears to be making its leadership transition smooth by strengthening Tejashwi's hands.

But at the moment many in the RJD are optimistic the party is in safe hands with the younger Yadav scion gradually taking over the reins by displaying leadership traits and deft articulation. “The party has strengthened the hands of Tejashwi and it was required for certain norms to be followed by political parties as per Election Commission guidelines. He is the party's leader and there is cohesiveness and unity in the party. All is well,” said Shivanand Tiwary, national vice president of the RJD. Manoj Jha, RJD 's Rajya Sabha MP, said the party is solidly behind Tejashwi and has praised his new poll promise of implementing the Mai-Behan yojana of granting ₹2500 to women if the GA comes to power.