Sibling rift in RJD: Lalu's children spar over Sanjay Yadav's rising clout

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Weeks before the Bihar Assembly election dates are expected to be declared, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad’s children -- among them, those whose faces commonly appear in the political arena -- are at it again.

Reports attribute the tiff to be over a “seat”; but behind the ado about a specific one in a particular vehicle, the battle this time is for another, elsewhere.

Lalu’s heir apparent, Tejaswi Yadav, has faced sibling revolt in earlier instances too. In most cases, his elder brother, Tej Pratap Yadav, has been the perpetrator. This time, the apparent divide is between two camps -- each with a sister-brother duo.

The rift is reportedly over a photograph showing party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav sitting prominently beyond a windscreen, in front of a vehicle during the recently concluded “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar.

The RJD, led by Tejaswi, joined the journey in Bihar, initiated by the Congress following Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” allegations.

The Sanjay issue is said to have been raised recently by Lalu’s second daughter, Rohini Acharya, who has pointed out that the specific seat is intended only for top leaders. The spot beside the driver is usually occupied by a leader to be prominently displayed behind the windscreen.

Her eldest brother and currently ousted from the party, Tej Pratap, has come in her support.

Misa Bharti, the eldest among Lalu’s daughters, is meanwhile seen standing with Tejaswi.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, she wrested the seat from her uncle and former RJD leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ram Kripal Yadav, who walked out on Lalu after being denied the seat.

Earlier, the rebel leader won this seat twice, beating the niece in 2014 and 2019. However, Tejaswi granted her a ticket again, reportedly on the advice of Sanjay.

Meanwhile, Rohini -- some party insiders claim -- intended to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly election -- a theory she denies.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, she lost from the Saran constituency to the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy by over 13,600 votes.

Rudy first wrested the seat, earlier known as Chapra constituency -- which, in the past, returned Lalu to Lok Sabha in four out of his five terms -- defeating Rabri Devi in 2014.

The 77-year-old Lalu has been in and out of jail on several issues and has been ailing. Tejaswi rose up the ranks to become the de facto chief of RJD.

Through time, he is seen to have guided the party to be the single largest in the Assembly, though short of a majority. He deftly bargained on seat sharing with alliance partners, putting his trust in the Left parties in 2020. The results bore fruit.

In conversations, he attributes the success more to Sanjay Yadav, whom he knew from his cricketing days.

He is seen as the poll-mind behind Tejaswi’s political acumen. Sanjay, say party insiders, is the man who supervises all on-ground constituency reviews, crunches the numbers, and balances alliance equations -- handing over the final opinion to his boss, Tejaswi.

Through time, the Lalu scion has put his faith in Sanjay, and the father, in Tejaswi.

In the current episode, Sanjay, the election analyst and influencer, is being held responsible for deciding the political fates of Rohini and Tej Pratap.

And in contention is the seat he currently occupies in driving the party juggernaut, and in the process, the decisions of the current de facto chief of RJD.

--IANS

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