Tejashwi Yadav might have never thought of a fight for the Raghopur seat, just like Rahul Gandhi thought of losing Amethi in 2019. Just as Amethi has been the stronghold of Congress and Gandhi family, similarly Raghopur has been the stronghold of RJD and Lalu family. Just as Rahul Gandhi’s parents, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, have represented Amethi in Parliament, similarly his parents, Rabri Devi and Lalu Yadav, have also been MLAs from Raghopur before him. RJD and Congress were fighting Bihar Assembly elections together, but Rahul Gandhi’s contribution is important in this plight of Tejashwi Yadav. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi alone is not responsible for the plight of Tejashwi Yadav; Mukesh Sahni has also played an important role in this. Apart from Rahul Gandhi and Mukesh Sahni, the infighting has already taken its toll on Tejashwi Yadav. The “Ninth Fail” campaign that has been going on across Bihar for three years has also caused a lot of damage. The worst thing is that all this has happened in the presence of Lalu Yadav in Bihar.
1. Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi’s dominance in the Voters’ Rights March and Tejashwi Yadav’s elder brother-like attitude behind him must have been very difficult for Lalu Yadav to tolerate. Still, they remained silent. Just like in the case of Tej Pratap Yadav, it was difficult to speak – but as soon as he got the chance, he settled the score. Lalu Yadav finally caved in only when a Congress leader declared Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate of the grand alliance. Actually, he made Ashok Gehlot say whatever he was suppressing. After maintaining distance for a long time, Rahul Gandhi went to Bihar for election campaign, but he acted in an arbitrary manner.
From the beginning, Rahul Gandhi kept saying the same things which were against Tejashwi Yadav. In his first visit, Rahul Gandhi had termed the caste census conducted in Bihar as fake, for which Tejashwi Yadav was taking the credit by exaggeration. And when he reached the election campaign, he started directly targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Personal attacks have always proved damaging, but Rahul Gandhi knew what damage he would do in Bihar—whatever damage would happen, would be to Tejashwi Yadav.
2. Mukesh Sahni
Till yesterday, Mukesh Sahni was the leader with the highest lead in the Grand Alliance. Whether Tejashwi Yadav was declared the chief ministerial candidate or not, it was certain that he would become the deputy chief ministerial candidate of the grand alliance. And, until this announcement was made, they maintained heavy pressure. In the 2020 assembly elections, the condition of Mukesh Sahni’s party VIP is worse than that of Congress. Congress even won 19 of its allotted seats. Mukesh Sahni’s balance has reached zero. Mukesh Sahni worked hard and secured 15 seats in the grand alliance. If Tejashwi Yadav had become the Chief Minister, he would have become the Deputy Chief Minister, but his party did not even open its account. Overconfidence was at its peak before the elections; This is what a friendly fight with an alliance partner means.
3. Prashant Kishore
Prashant Kishor started digging the roots of Tejashwi Yadav by starting Jan Suraj campaign three years ago. Throughout the campaign, Prashant Kishor called Tejashwi Yadav a “ninth grade failure”. Nitish Kumar was also the target of Prashant Kishore, but the level of his attacks on Tejashwi Yadav was different. In terms of achievements, Prashant Kishor has achieved nothing but ruined Tejashwi Yadav’s fortunes. Tejashwi Yadav will now be far behind the heights he once reached, and will have to work hard to make a comeback. Prashant Kishor, who claimed that JDU would be reduced to 25 seats, may have backed out from his retirement, but he has definitely dug a hole in the path of Tejashwi Yadav.
4. Tej Pratap Yadav
Tejashwi Yadav used to take his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav lightly, but even after losing the election himself, he has proved to be better than his younger brother. Tejashwi Yadav will probably never forget the election struggle of Raghopur. What did Tej Pratap get from his family? After Lalu Yadav handed over his political legacy to Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav got busy playing the flute and singing bhajans. Till being expelled from the party and family, he kept calling Tejashwi as his Arjun and himself as Krishna. Tej Pratap never kept his word, always kept talking about making Tejashwi Yadav the Chief Minister – he is Tejashwi Yadav, he stepped on the axe.