After having failed to shake-up party leadership with his threats, Tej Pratap Yadav on Sunday directed a veiled jibe at his brother Tejashwi Yadav, comparing him to mythological character Duryodhan without taking his name.

Tej Pratap Yadav’s change of heart towards his younger brother comes a day after the RJD went ahead to declare its nominee for Sheohar seat, for which he was backing one Angesh Singh as his ‘choice’ candidate. The RJD will field Syed Fasal Ali from the Sheohar seat.

Tej Pratap, who had on more occasions than one positioned himself as the charioteer (Krishna) of Arjun (Tejashwi) in the battle for ousting the NDA, on Sunday changed track to liken his younger brother with Duryodhan, who failed to accommodate the demand of Pandavas for five villages to avert an imminent war.

He has been pitching for the accommodation of five of his candidates, which he scaled down, at least two - Chandra Prakash from Jehanabad and Angesh Singh from Sheohar. He has also aired displeasure on fielding Chandrika Rai, his father-in-law, from Saran and pushed for his replacement with Rabri Devi on the plea that “the seat belonged to the family.”

RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap has been fighting a lone battle for staying relevant in the party, ever since he spurned family’s counsel to recall his divorce petition against his wife Aishwarya Rai.

To step up the pressure, he had floated Lalu-Rabri Morcha and issued a two-day ultimatum, threatening to enter the fray in Saran as an independent and field a minimum of five of his candidates against the official nominees.

With nothing going his way, Tej Pratap took Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s lines to share his angst on twitter: “Duryodhan wah bhi de na saka…ulte Hari ko bandhane chala…jab naash manuj par chata hai, pahle vivek mar jata hai.” He has previously charged Tejashwi of being surrounded by ‘chatukaars (yes men)’.

Tej Pratap is likely to accompany Chandra Prakash on April 24 on which date the latter will file his nomination for Jehanabad seat as an independent. He has already declared the names of Angesh and others as the Lalu-Rabri Morcha backed nominees.

In another post on Twitter, Tej Pratap, whose flute playing abilities has also caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that whosoever comes between him and his family will be destroyed, apparently hinting at certain elements trying to fish in troubled waters. In doing so, mercurial Tej Pratap has kept everybody guessing about his actions.

First Published: Apr 08, 2019 03:16 IST