Thaw in RJD-Congress ties? Rahul Gandhi signals unity after RJD elevates Tejashwi Yadav in poll year

COngress MP Rahul Gandhi said the INDIA bloc will contest the Bihar elections unitedly. (File Photo: PTI)

The Congress party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have signalled a thaw in their relationship which appeared to have turned sour after former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties had come together solely for the Lok Sabha elections, indicating that the alliance would have no bearing on the Assembly elections due to be held in the state later this year.

On Saturday, the Rashtriya Janata Dal turned a new chapter as it officially declared Tejashwi as its CM face. While Tejashwi had already been positioned as the CM face since the past few years, the RJD also passed a resolution giving Tejashwi the power to "change the party name and symbol", putting him at par with his father and RJD founder Lalu Prasad in the party hierarchy.

Soon after his elevation, Tejashwi called on Congress leader and INDIA bloc ally Rahul Gandhi who was in Patna. Addressing party workers on Sunday, Rahul stressed that the INDIA bloc will contest the Bihar Assembly elections unitedly. "BJP and RSS have to be defeated in Bihar. We will defeat them by standing united with the bloc INDIA...You are the lions and tigers of the Congress. Get ready to fight," he told party workers.

While Tejashwi is yet to react to Rahul's remarks, the meeting between the two leaders is being seen as a sign of a thaw between the two parties. After Tejashwi's gesture to meet call on Rahul, the Congress MP visited Lalu Yadav's Patna residence and met his family.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi's elevation is being seen as a new chapter for the RJD which has seen differences emerge between Lalu and his son Tejashwi over the former's outreach to Bihar Chief Minister, JD(U) president and former ally Nitish Kumar. Last month, Lalu said the RJD’s “doors were open” for Nitish's return. However, Tejashwi had shot down the proposal, terming Nitish a "tired leader" and stressed on the need for “fresh ideas and leadership”.

At the national executive meeting of the RJD where the announcement regarding the party's CM face was made, Lalu chose to shower praise on his son. “He has led by example by taking forward the party’s goals of socialism, secularism and social justice,” the RJD founder said while lauding Tejashwi for travelling across the state to “understand the people’s pulse”.

The Bihar elections, scheduled to be held in October-November this year, will see the RJD square off against the JD(U)-BJP combine for a shot at power. In 2015, Tejashwi led the JD(U)-Congress-RJD combine to 178 seats in the 243-member Assembly, with his party emerging as the single-largest with 81 seats. Tejashwi is also credited with leading the party's revival after the 2010 debacle that saw the party being reduced to 23 seats in the 2010 polls.

The RJD re-emerged as the single largest party in the state in 2020, winning 75 seats, and forming a government in the state. However, Nitish's switch to the NDA halted Tejashwi's power reign in 16 months and marked the JD(U)-BJP's return to power.