New Delhi: About four months after RJD chief Lalu Prasad expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for six years, another family rift has emerged: Lalu’s daughter, Rohini Acharya, who donated a kidney to her father, has revolted against the growing influence of Tejashwi Yadav’s political adviser and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav.
Rohini is the third member of the family to raise a banner of protests against what they perceive as Sanjay Yadav micromanaging the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Tejashwi. Lalu’s eldest daughter and Pataliputra Lok Sabha MP, Misa Bharti, also spoke against Sanjay Yadav’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha in 2024.
The family feud gives the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) ammunition to attack the RJD before the high-stakes assembly election later this year. Some RJD leaders said it could hurt the party’s prospects.
“Although Tejashwi Yadav has been established as the heir of Lalu Prasad, the infighting in the family can be used by the BJP and JD(U). They will make a pitch that if we can’t manage our own family affairs, how will we manage Bihar? It can hurt the RJD’s prospects,” said an RJD MLA.
The latest controversy started during Tejashwi’s Bihar Adhikar Yatra, when a picture of Sanjay Yadav sitting in the front seat of a bus reserved for Tejashwi went viral. One RJD supporter, Alok Kumar, attacked Sanjay Yadav for sitting in Tejashwi’s seat.
“The front seat is always marked for the top leader, and nobody should sit on it even in his absence. Though it is another matter if somebody considers himself to be above the top leadership,” Alok said in a post on X shared by Rohini.
In his post, Alok added, “The entire Bihar, including us, is accustomed to seeing Lalu ji and Tejashwi Yadav sitting on the front seat. Anybody else sitting on it is entirely unacceptable to us. It is another matter for sycophants who see a remarkable strategist, adviser, and saviour in a substandard person.”
Sources said Tejashwi complained to Lalu about Rohini’s post. The RJD patriarch intervened and Rohini edited her post, while still underlining that Lalu’s lifelong goal was the upliftment of the marginalised.
She posted a picture of two Dalit leaders, Rekha Paswan and Shiv Chandra Ram, seated in front and wrote, “Elevating the underprivileged and those at the bottom of society has been the goal of Lalu Prasad’s campaign for social and economic justice”.
On Friday, she made two cryptic social media posts, sharing a video of her being taken to the operating theatre for surgery when she donated a kidney for her father. “For those who are ready to make sacrifices, putting their own life at stake, fearlessness, boldness and self-respect run in the blood,” she wrote.
In another post, she wrote, “I have been performing my duties as a daughter and a sister and will continue to do so. Neither am I hankering after a post nor do I have any political ambitions. For me, self-respect is supreme.”
मेरे संदर्भ में ट्रोलर्स, उद्दंडों, पेड – मीडिया एवं पार्टी हड़पने की कुत्सित मंशा रखने वालों के द्वारा फैलाये जा रहे तमाम अफवाह निराधार और मेरी छवि को नुकसान पहुँचाने के मकसद से किए जा रहे दुष्प्रचार का हिस्सा हैं .. मेरी कोई राजनीतिक महत्वाकांक्षा न कभी रही थी , न है और ना ही…
— Rohini Acharya (@RohiniAcharya2) September 21, 2025
She made her X account private on Friday and unfollowed Tejashwi and Lalu. On Sunday, she wrote on social media that she has no desire to contest the assembly election and get a Rajya Sabha seat while attacking party trolls for defaming her.
“In my context, all the rumors spread by trolls, miscreants, paid media, and those with malicious intent of usurping the party are baseless and part of a smear campaign aimed at damaging my image,” she said in the post on X.
“I have never had any political ambitions in the past, nor do I have any now, nor will I have any in the future. I have no desire to become a candidate for the Legislative Assembly myself, nor to make anyone else a candidate for the Legislative Assembly, nor do I aspire to become a member of the Rajya Sabha. I have no rivalry with any member of my family, nor do I have any desire for any position in the party or any government that may be formed in the future,” she added.
ThePrint reached Sanjay Yadav for comment. The report will be updated if and when he responds.
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Tej Pratap sides with sister
Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who revolted against Sanjay Yadav in the past, came out in support of his sister Rohini.
“Rohini is much older than me. As a child, I played in her lap. The sacrifice she has made is hard for any daughter, sister or mother to make. The anguish she has expressed is justified. I am fully with my sister in the ongoing episode; whoever dares to insult her will have to face the Sudarshan Chakra,” he told the media.
This is not the first time that Tejashwi’s strategist Sanjay Yadav has been at the centre of a rift in the Lalu family.
In May, after being expelled from the party, Tej Pratap was accused Sanjay Yadav of having a hand in influencing Tejashwi, describing him as “Jaichand”, a name synonymous with the word ‘traitor’ in India.
“My brother, have faith. I am with you in every situation. Brother, take care of mom and dad. Jaichands are everywhere, both inside and outside,” he wrote in a post on X.
Earlier, when a leader from Tej Pratap’s students’ wing filed his nomination papers during the 2021 Tarapur bypoll but later withdrew, Tej Pratap accused Sanjay Yadav of conspiring against him.
“Biharis know all things. Write C grade story somewhere else, Haryanvi scriptwriter,” he wrote in a social media post.
At the time, it was said that Sanjay Yadav briefed Tejashwi that Tej Pratap was sabotaging the party’s prospects in the bypoll by fielding a rival candidate.
On another occasion, tensions escalated when Akash Yadav, brother of Tej Pratap’s close aide Anushka Yadav, was removed as president of the party’s youth wing.
According to RJD sources, the decision was taken by state president Jagdanand Singh, a longtime confidant of Lalu Prasad, reportedly on the advice of Sanjay Yadav.
The move infuriated Tej Pratap, who lashed out at Jagdanand Singh, likening him to “Shishupal”, and branded Sanjay Yadav the “Duryodhan of the Mahabharata”.
The divisions deepened when Tejashwi picked Sanjay Yadav during the 2024 Rajya Sabha polls, ignoring the claims of senior leaders.
Misa Bharti, Tej Pratap and Rohini Acharya opposed the move, but Tejashwi prevailed, and Sanjay Yadav became a Rajya Sabha MP.
Since then, the BJP has been taking digs at the family fight over Sanjay Yadav.
The party’s Bihar unit tweeted a Bhojpuri video on its X handle alleging that Sanjay Yadav has “tied a blindfold over Tejashwi’s eyes” and created a rift in the family.
“We have seen that in the Mahabharata, Sanjay became the eyes of Dhritarashtra. Now we are seeing how a Sanjay who came from Haryana has tied a blindfold over Tejashwi’s eyes and is creating a rift in the family,” it said.
Union Cabinet Minister Giriraj Singh went further and posted a picture of Sanjay Yadav sitting on a chair, asking whether the INDIA bloc had changed its chief ministerial face.
हम समय बानी…
हम देखले बानी कि महाभारत में संजय, धृतराष्ट्र के आँख बन गइल रहलें।
अब हम देखत बानी, हरियाणा से आइल एगो संजय कइसे तेजस्वी के आँख पर पट्टी बाँध देले बा आ परिवार में फूट डाल देले बा।#RJDMeinTootFoot pic.twitter.com/TEarKjNbtA
— BJP Bihar (@BJP4Bihar) September 19, 2025
“Tejashwi should first take care of his family, then think about fighting the NDA,” he said in a post on X.
One RJD leader claimed that tensions increased after Rohini Acharya, who had run unsuccessfully in the Lok Sabha polls against the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy, began pushing to enter the state assembly.
However, Tejashwi was not in favour, reportedly at the suggestion of Sanjay Yadav, who cautioned that her candidature might backfire given the growing criticism of dynastic politics. Party sources say this suggestion further deepened the divide and left Rohini feeling marginalised.
Who is Sanjay Yadav?
Sanjay Yadav is sometimes called the Pandian of Bihar, though without a bureaucratic background, a reference to Odisha’s V.K. Pandian, a former IAS officer who controlled the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
But he is more like Tejashwi’s Prashant Kishor, amplifying the RJD’s message across social media platforms, designing the party’s campaign and positioning Tejashwi as a youth icon of Bihar. Focused on jobs for Bihari youth.
Hailing from Haryana’s Mahendragarh, the computer science postgraduate has become the third most powerful man in the RJD after Lalu and Tejashwi. He is known as Tejashwi’s eyes and ears, but he has also been accused of being responsible for causing rifts within the RJD, and also getting senior leaders sidelined.
Some RJD leaders derisively refer to him as a “gatekeeper”, one who decides who gets to meet Tejashwi and who gets an election ticket. They also claim Tejashwi doesn’t take a single decision without consulting Sanjay Yadav.
Sanjay Yadav first met Tejashwi when the RJD leader was trying his luck with the Delhi Daredevils cricket team.
After Lalu’s arrest in 2012, when Tejashwi was returning to Bihar to stand with his family, Sanjay Yadav—who then worked in the Haryana unit of the Samajwadi Party—was introduced to him by Akhilesh Yadav at a function.
The rise of Sanjay Yadav has been phenomenal since then.
Sanjay Yadav quit his job in Delhi, packed his bags and joined Tejashwi Yadav in Patna. He initially managed the RJD’s social media account and, in some years, became Tejashwi’s chief campaign strategist and advisor. Tejashwi even called Sanjay Yadav his “philosopher, guide and tuition teacher”.
When the RJD joined hands with the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) to form the Mahagathbandhan before the assembly elections in 2015, Prashant Kishor was largely credited with bringing the two bitter rivals together. Party insiders say it was Sanjay Yadav who then advised Tejashwi to field more upper caste candidates to expand the RJD’s social footprint.
The move paid off and the RJD emerged as the single largest party in the assembly with 80 seats.
Also when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a review of reservation policy amid the 2015 election season, Sanjay Yadav had advised Lalu to condemn it. Lalu spoke against Bhagwat’s remark in every rally, which worked in RJD’s favour and resulted in BJP’s loss.
Five years later, in the 2020 assembly election, Sanjay Yadav designed the entire RJD campaign around unemployment and positioned Tejashwi as a change-maker for Bihar’s youth. Initially, the JD(U) mocked the RJD’s promise to provide 10 lakh jobs, but later Nitish realised its potential and announced 4 lakh jobs for teachers after returning to power.
The RJD once again emerged as the single-largest party, and the alliance led by it, the Mahagathbandhan, was close behind the NDA. Sanjay Yadav was credited with galvanising the RJD cadre and bringing freshness into the party’s campaign strategy.
Party insiders also said when Nitish Kumar ditched the RJD and Tejashwi called Nitish “Paltu Ram” in every rally, Sanjay Yadav advised him not to attack Nitish, as it could alienate the Kurmi and Kushwaha vote bank. Since then, Tejashwi has never attacked Nitish directly and calls him “Chacha ji”.
Sanjay Yadav’s influence was seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha election when Tejashwi launched his Jan Biswas Yatra campaign with the slogan “MY Baap”—or Muslim, Yadav, Bahujan, upper caste, women and poor—which was seen as an extension of Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA slogan.
Sanjay Yadav’s advice to expand the RJD’s core constituency and bring the Kushwahas into its fold paid dividends in the Lok Sabha poll when the RJD’s Kushwaha push dented the NDA’s prospects in three seats.
He has also been credited with inducting young faces as spokespersons to counter the BJP in TV debates. “Sanjay Yadav ji helped to bring young faces from JNU and groom them as party spokespersons to take on the BJP on TV and social media,” RJD spokesperson Kanchana Yadav told ThePrint.
Other party leaders echoed the sentiment.
“Sanjay Yadav has made the RJD social media team more aggressive and dynamic, expanding its outreach at the grassroots, which is why Tejashwi trusts him. Both are like friends,” RJD MLC Mo. Farooq told ThePrint.
But Sanjay Yadav has many detractors in the RJD other than Lalu’s family.
Many in the party say that Sanjay Yadav has alienated Tejashwi from senior leaders and wider sections of society. “The RJD got votes due to Lalu Yadav. Anybody with the Lalten (lantern) symbol will get the Yadav and Muslim votes. What is the role of Sanjay Yadav? No one will vote on his name,” said a party leader.
Detractors say many senior leaders left the party because Sanjay Yadav decided who would have access to Tejashwi. “He became the gatekeeper of the RJD. During Lalu’s time, he was available to everybody. But now Sanjay Yadav controls tickets, meetings and everything,” said a party leader.
One RJD MLA told ThePrint that when seasoned leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui was in the running for a Rajya Sabha seat, Sanjay Yadav was sent instead.
“How many Muslim votes will we get on Sanjay Yadav’s name. He can’t ensure a single vote in Haryana and Bihar. Many seniors are angry due to Sanjay Yadav,” the MLA said.
“Even Jagdanand Singh, whom Lalu has great respect for, was not happy with Sanjay Yadav’s rising interference. He even counselled against bringing Pappu Yadav into the party during the Lok Sabha election and fielded another candidate. But appu Yadav won despite Sanjay’s wrong counsel,” he added.
Still, Sanjay Yadav remains in charge. “Yadav has been the eyes and ears of Tejashwi ji and has helped the party with his work and advice,” said RJD MLC Ajay Kumar Singh.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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