Tej Pratap Yadav mocks Tejashwi over Mahua campaigning, says 'he is still a child'

The Mahua seat, once a stronghold of the RJD, the seat is now set for a dramatic contest between old allies-turned-rivals.

A week after former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav asserted that his younger brother Tejashwi, whom the INDIA bloc has named Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assembly polls, was yet to come out of the shadow of their father Lalu Prasad, the senior sibling once again took a sharp dig at his younger brother and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, calling him “a child".  Tej Pratap Yadav made the remark shortly after Tejashwi, wrapped up his campaign in Mahua on Monday.

“He is still a child right now. After the elections, we’ll hand him a jhunjhuna (rattle)," Tej Pratap told reporters, adding, “If he goes to our area, we’ll go to his area too. Then we’ll go to Raghopur…" said Tej Pratap Yadav . The remark comes amid heightened political tension in Mahua, where both the sons of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav are locked in a proxy face-off.

Earlier during one of the campaigns, The Hasanpur MLA, who has floated Janshakti Janata Dal after being expelled from RJD, responding to queries from journalists about his more famous younger sibling being called "Jan Nayak" (hero of the people) by enthusiastic supporters said: "Jan Nayak is an epithet associated with giants like Ram Manohar Lohia and Karpoori Thakur. Even Lalu Prasad fits the bill. But Tejashwi owes his standing to Lalu Prasad. The day he makes a mark for himself, I will be the first to call him a Jan Nayak."

Tej Pratap Yadav, who is now trying to wrest back Mahua, the seat from which he made his debut a decade ago, stuck to the stand that after elections, he would not return to his father's party nor would he be a part of any other political formation.

He also exuded confidence that he faced "no contest" in Mahua, where he claims credit for the establishment of a medical college and promises to set up "an international stadium that would host a cricket match between India and Pakistan". The RJD has given a ticket to Mukesh Raushan, sitting MLA from Mahua, who is a close aide of Tejashwi Yadav.

The Mahua contest is shaping up as one of the most closely watched in the first phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled for November 6 and 11, with results on November 14. Once a stronghold of the RJD, the seat is now set for a dramatic contest between old allies-turned-rivals.

Raushan, a sitting MLA and Mahagathbandhan’s RJD face in Mahua, is once again in the action, this time locked in a direct, high-stakes face-off with his former party colleague and Lalu’s son, Tej Pratap Yadav. Adding to the multi-cornered contest, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded Sanjay Kumar Singh from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).