Tejashwi Prasad Yadav meets UP netas, sets tongues wagging

PATNA: The surprise ‘birthday greetings’ to BSP chief Mayawati from leader of opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his joint presser with her new foe-turned-friend and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday set tongues wagging in the political circles of state.

While Congress functionaries in Patna refrained from making any observation on Tejashwi showering praise on Akhilesh and Mayawati, who kept the Grand Old party out of their alliance in Uttar Pradesh, RJD leaders said the partnership with Congress in Bihar was intact.

However, a few Congress functionaries claimed that Tejashwi’s meeting with SP and BSP bosses might be aimed at keeping an upper hand in the seat-sharing negotiations with Congress in Bihar. “Though RJD has its strong presence in Bihar, it’s also true that Lok Sabha election is to be fought at national level, where Congress will play the lead role. The distribution of seats should also be done accordingly. However, it seems that RJD is trying to play pressure politics following the BSP-SP alliance in neighbouring UP,” said a senior BPCC functionary.

Sources said RJD is eyeing at least 50% of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats to contest in Bihar and leave the remaining constituencies to other allies, including Congress, RLSP, HAM (S) and Left parties.

RJD national vice-president and former MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, however, made a veiled appeal to Akhilesh and Mayawati to ensure that Congress remains in the anti-BJP alliance at national level.

“If we (opposition) want to give an alternative at national level, all anti-BJP forces should come together. The alliance in UP is fine at state level, but keeping Congress out is not good at national level. SP and BSP should reconsider their decision of keeping Congress out of the alliance,” Singh told TOI over phone from Muzaffarpur.

RJD’s Maner MLA Bhai Virendra also said on Monday that Tejashwi met Akhilesh and Mayawati for personal reasons. “Our alliance with Congress in Bihar is intact,” he said.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Madan Mohan Jha said Tejashwi’s meeting with Mayawati was pre- planned. “Tejashwi had told me last week that he would visit Lucknow on Monday to greet Mayawati on her birthday. Thus, his Lucknow tour was pre-planned and no additional political meaning should be made out of it,” Jha said, adding the scenario in UP and Bihar are different.

BPCC working president Kaukab Quadri, on the other hand, said options are always open in politics, but the alliance between RJD and Congress in Bihar is intact. “Lalu ji always considered Congress as a formidable alliance. Hence, we strongly believe that our alliance with RJD will remain intact,” he said.

Meanwhile, LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan suggested Tejashwi to focus on strengthening his party in Bihar. “Though the alliance of SP and BSP should not be taken lightly, it will not have much impact either in UP or in Bihar,” Chirag told reporters.