Inside RJD meet: How Lalu Yadav persuaded Tejashwi to take up the role of LoP in Bihar assembly

Lalu Yadav and his son

Going by several media reports, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial nominee Tejashwi Yadav was in no mood to take up the roles of -- the leader of RJD's legislative party and the role of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Bihar legislative assembly after his party's disastrous performance in the recently concluded Bihar polls. The RJD managed to secure only 25 seats, a massive climbdown from its earlier tally of 75 in 2020.

However, like so many other major political decisions, his decision was influenced or perhaps he was forced to change his mind after RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav's immediate intervention.

After the Mahagathbandhan’s bruising loss in the recent Bihar Assembly elections, the RJD gathered its newly elected MLAs and defeated candidates for a closed-door review meeting on Monday. The meeting scheduled to take note of factors that led to RJD's poor performance, however, opened with an unexpected twist that briefly unsettled the room.

According to party insiders quoted by News18, Tejashwi Yadav, who had spearheaded the coalition’s campaign, surprised everyone by declining to take on the role of Leader of the Opposition. He reportedly told the gathering that if the mandate had not endorsed him as an alternative, it would be inappropriate for him to assume the position. His remarks, made at the very beginning of the meeting, hung heavily in the air and left several MLAs visibly anxious.

Tejashwi's offer to give up the Leader of the Opposition role was turned down, and Lalu Yadav insisted that he must continue to lead the party in the House, sources said.

Tejashwi also said it was his father, Lalu Yadav, a veteran politician and former Chief Minister, who founded the RJD. "I am handling the party's affairs on his orders. I tried very hard in this election but was unsuccessful," he said, according to sources. Senior party leaders at the meeting backed the young leader and said they stand with him.

In another related development, Tejashwi defended his aide and RJD's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav at the meeting, sources have said. Sanjay Yadav's name has come up amid the RJD family drama, and Tejashwi's sister, Rohini Acharya, has accused him of throwing her out of the family. At the meeting, Tejashwi said it was wrong to target Sanjay Yadav for the RJD's poor show and that he was not responsible for it.