There’s a new Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar & he’s doing everything he didn’t do in past 5 years

Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav has often been criticised by opposition, party for running away from a crisis and remaining inaccessible. All that's changing now.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav | Tejashwi Yadav | Facebook

Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal leader (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav seems to be on an image makeover drive at a time when the Bihar elections are likely to be held in a few months.

Tejashwi, who has often been criticised by the opposition for running away to Delhi whenever a crisis befalls the state and for remaining inaccessible even to his own party workers, is now back in Bihar and has been doing everything for the last two weeks that he failed to do so far.

From visiting flood victims to changing his lifestyle and meeting RJD workers on a daily basis — Yadav seems to be launching his 2.0 version.

The BJP, however, expressed scepticism and said it is to be seen whether Tejashwi’s new avatar is a permanent feature or it’s just a flash in the pan. The RJD, meanwhile, feels that this change should have come earlier.

The easy entry

Tejashwi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly and is holding the reins of RJD in the absence of father Lalu Prasad, has had a tailor-made run in state politics so far. 

Until 2015, his political activity was limited to just accompanying his mother Rabri Devi to political rallies. After his cricketing career failed to take off, he entered politics. 

His first brush with electoral politics happened in 2015 when he was made the candidate from Raghopur in Vaishali district — a traditional seat of Lalu and Rabri — under the Nitish-Lalu grand alliance.

After the elections, Tejashwi was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Bihar and given key portfolios like road construction and building. 

His elder brother Tej Pratap was made the health minister, but the question of who would be Lalu’s successor was more or less settled. 

As the deputy CM, Tejashwi’s 18-month tenure was, however, largely associated with Lalu running his all departments by proxy. Officers known to be close to Lalu were even made advisors in Tejashwi’s departments.

Why Tejashwi over Tej Pratap? 

Lalu didn’t announce his political heir for a long time as family feud came to light. 

But before going to jail in 2017 in connection with the fodder scam, Lalu made it clear that Tejashwi will lead the party and as a consolation asked Tej Pratap to look after the RJD’s youth wing. 

He chose Tejashwi over Tej Pratap as the latter is known for his eccentricities and has, over the years, earned the reputation of being the family’s problem child. And, Tejashwi stands in stark contrast to Tej Pratap. He comes across as a person who gets through to people in a reasonable manner. 

His downswing 

Tejashwi’s image as a political leader, however, took a beating after he became the Leader of the Opposition in 2017 when the grand alliance broke up and Lalu went to jail.

Not just political rivals questioned Tejashwi’s ability to rule, but he was slammed by his own party and alliance partners too. 

BJP spokesperson Rajni Ranjan Patel even called Tejashwi a ‘leader of compensation’ as he is compensating for the absence of Lalu. 

Tejashwi’s regular sabbaticals and disappearance from Bihar had even miffed Lalu. Whenever a crisis befell the state or his party, Tejashwi chose to run away to Delhi.

He didn’t visit Muzaffarpur when the district was reeling under encephalitis deaths of over 160 children last June. He did not visit any flood-hit district last year. For almost six months after the party’s near-washout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he did not attend the assembly despite repeated pleas from Lalu on phone from Ranchi.

RJD leaders and, particularly, the senior leaders complained that he was not available and that he largely remained within a close circle of four to five people. Also, unlike Lalu, he never met his supporters at his residence.

The viral picture of Tejashwi cutting his birthday cake on a private jet also hurt his image. RJD leaders had said it strengthened the perception that Tejashwi is a non-serious politician.

Sources in the RJD said Tejashwi’s political battle against Nitish and the NDA has been largely confined to Twitter, so much so that the ruling alliance started calling him ‘Twitter Babua’ (Twitter kid). 

The new avatar

Tejashwi is a late riser, who usually wakes up after 11 am. But his close associates told ThePrint that he has now changed this habit.

“He wakes up at around 6 am and by 8 am, he is usually speaking to the media or RJD leaders, who want to meet him,” said an RJD leader.

On Wednesday, Tejashwi even went to some remote flood-hit areas of Darbhanga and Madhubani districts. This time, he also ensured to take along with him senior RJD leader and MLA from a constituency in Darbhanga Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

He got a rousing welcome from the flood-hit victims and even distributed food among them. 

On 10 July, Tejashwi defied Covid-19 norms and travelled all the way to Gopalganj to meet the widow of a local businessman, Ramashray Singh Kushwaha, who was killed a year ago by goons allegedly supported by a JD(U) MLA. 

Tejashwi even sat on a dharna with the widow demanding justice for her husband and was also photographed with a rakhi tied by the widow. It was a dramatic change from the time when he got himself photographed on a chartered plane. 

On Monday, for the first time, he got himself photographed while praying to Lord Shiva, in a bid to send out a message of soft Hindutva to diminish BJP’s influence. 

He also visited water-logged areas of the state capital. Last year, he did not visit places like Rajendra Nagar and Kadamkuan in Patna, which were intensely water-logged for weeks as RJD leaders said that the residents of those areas were primarily BJP supporters.

“He is trying to change himself and that is why he is reaching out to people. He is aware of his social responsibilities. Yesterday (Wednesday), when I was traveling with him, the local leaders of one place had organised a public meeting and there was a huge gathering. Tejashwi did not stop there, saying that it would endanger the people to Covid-19,” Siddiqui told ThePrint.

His presence on the ground ‘unexpected’

Tejashwi’s political rivals, however, continue to mock his ‘new version’ and allege that he is out to spread Covid-19. 

“During the Lalu-Rabri era, there was a flood relief scam in which Rs 90 crore was looted. Tejashwi is trying to win sympathy by giving them a one-time lunch and getting photographed,” said Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. 

Sources in the BJP, however, told ThePrint that Tejashwi’s presence on the ground has been “unexpected”. 

“But even Rahul Gandhi has tried to rebuild his image several times. It has not worked. We have to see how long Tejashwi can sustain it in the trying times of Covid 19 — is it a flash in the pan or a permanent feature in his politics,” said a BJP leader.

Is it too late? 

Tejashwi’s 2.0 version has come at a time when elections are expected to be held in another three months. 

Tejashwi has been opposing the holding of polls in the middle of the pandemic, prompting the BJP to say that the RJD is behaving like a weak student, who wants the exams to be delayed so that he doesn’t flunk.

Sources in the RJD told ThePrint that it would have been better if Tejashwi Yadav 2.0 version came a bit earlier.

The basic issue with the RJD — its failure to attract sections outside Muslims and Yadavs — still remains. 

Although the party has strengthened itself on social media, it still has to match the might of the NDA in holding virtual rallies. 

According to experts, Tejashwi’s new version is welcomed, but there is scepticism about its electoral impact. 

“There will be a change in people’s perception and he will emerge as a leader who cares for the people. It will help him in the long run. But it will have very little impact on elections. Take the example of Pappu Yadav who is in the forefront with the people when any crisis emerges. He gets goodwill, but not votes. Elections are still held on the basis of caste and religion in Bihar,” said retired Patna University professor, N.K. Choudhary.