Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, on Saturday created a flutter in political circles with a tweet indicating that all is not well in the party. Many saw it as the first open sign of rift between Mr. Prasad’s sons. Mr. Tej Pratap, however, later clarified in a series of tweets that there were no differences between them.
“Mera sochna hai ki mein Arjun ko Hastinapur ki gaddi per baithayun aur khud dwarka chala jaun! Ab Kuchek chuglon ko kasht hai ki kahin mein king-maker na kahlaun (I think I should place Arjuna on the throne of Hastinapur and go to Dwarka! But some have a problem that I may be called a kingmaker),” tweeted Mr. Tej Pratap, who was Health, Environment and Forest Minister in the previous grand alliance government.
He is known for his religious bent of mind. He often presents himself in posters and billboards as Lord Krishna, while projecting Tejashwi as Arjuna.
Mr. Tej Pratap’s tweet triggered a flutter.
A BJP leader said: “It was the first sign of family dispute and is bound to happen.”
JD(U) leaders insisted they had nothing to say since it was a family issue of Mr. Lalu Prasad.
RJD leaders refused to comment, while Congress leaders expressed ignorance about the tweet.
Speaking to a select group of journalists, Mr. Tej Pratap indicated that he was not happy with the way the party was functioning. There were some who were trying to create a rift between him and his brother.
‘Piece of heart’
However, Mr. Tej Pratap soon posted a series of tweets explaining all was well in the party. “Listen you all from Sangh [RSS] … don’t try to spread rumours and do listen with your ears open that Tejashwi is a piece of my heart,” said one of his tweets. His earlier tweet said “there is no rift between me and my brother ... we’ve to remove those who are trying to create a division in the party”.
The next tweet said: “RJD and the alliance partners have a big responsibility to form a government in 2019, but we’ve to be careful about anti-social elements ...”