Lalu’s daughter admits to discord between Tejashwi and Tej Pratap
PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s eldest daughter on Monday confirmed that “there are explicit differences” between her brothers Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Lalu has anointed Tejashwi, the younger son, as his heir apparent in RJD, a move that has not gone down well with Tej Pratap, who is a party MLA and Misa who is a Rajya Sabha MP.
Addressing party worker at Maner, Misa said: “Why talk about others when there are explicit differences among brothers in my own family.” She, however, added that minor differences exist in every family.
Tejashwi parried questions from journalists on his sister’s remarks. “I did not hear what she said,” he said. Lalu’s absence following his sentencing in multiple fodder scam cases has led to flaring up of the sibling rivalry in the family. The two brothers have distanced themselves from political decisions taken by each other and, at times, Pratap complained how he was not being involved in party decisions and not getting the support of RJD workers.
BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said Misa’s acceptance of dispute is no surprise. “RJD believes in family-based politics, which is boomeranging now. Family conflict will destroy the party soon,” he said.
Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha termed it an internal family issue and that it should be resolved by them. “But I have seen both brothers attending programmes together and sharing a strong bond,” he said. The Congress is part of the RJDled grand alliance in Bihar.
Political analyst DM Diwakar doesn’t find it unusual. He says this is the outcome of the opportunistic parliamentary politics sweeping across parties. “...Public issues have taken backstage. Politics of ideology has disappeared and incompetent people have taken the centre-stage,” Diwakar said.