The Mahagathbandhan, i.e. INDIA bloc in Bihar, named RJD leader and former Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav as its Chief Minister face ahead of the Bihar assembly polls in a joint press conference on Thursday. Mukesh Sahani of Vikassheel Insan Party is the Deputy CM face.
The announcement was made by senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, just a day after he rushed to Patna to ease tensions within the alliance. On Wednesday, he met with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav at their residence in Patna. Several reports have been doing the rounds for a few days over a rift in the Mahagathbandhan.
Gehlot, who has been serving as the Senior Election Observer of the AICC, along with Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru, was present during the crucial meeting with the RJD's top leaders.
Tejaswi: Mahagathbandhan's united choiceEarlier, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Ram Naresh Pandey had declared that Tejaswi would be the Chief Ministerial candidate and the future CM of the state, as he issued clarifications over the latter alone featuring on the press conference poster.
He said, "All questions that are being raised are wrong. CM face of Mahagathbandhan is Tejaswi Yadav. So, any controversy on the poster is unnecessary. We are holding the press conference as a united front."
As his name was announced, Tejaswi said, "Tejaswi khud Bihar ki sarkar nahi chalaega balki poora Bihar milkar Bihar sarkar chalane ka kaam karega. Tejaswi CM banega toh saath mein sabhi Bihar ke log CM banenge...(Tejaswi won't run the Bihar Government alone, but the entire Bihar will work to run the government. When Tejaswi becomes the CM, along with him, the people of Bihar will also become the CM)".
He affirmed, "Even if the shadow of Tejaswi does any wrong, Tejaswi will work to punish it; this is a resolution. We will work to make a new Bihar."
Following the press conference, Gehlot concluded, "This is a well-thought-out decision. Naturally, it was going to be Tejaswi's name...Rahul Gandhi and everyone else had his name on their minds." While RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari stated, "The 14 crore people of Bihar have already accepted Tejaswi Yadav as their CM. Mukesh Sahani has been announced as the Deputy CM face. This is the unity of Mahagathbandhan. On the other hand, NDA is not mustering the courage to announce Nitish Kumar as the CM face...All is well with us."
RJD MP Sanjay Yadav added, "The most important thing is that the 20-year-old useless government needs to be removed, and a young leader is going to become the Chief Minister of Bihar."
Despite the seeming unity, the "friendly conquest" still exists. Moreover, no other senior congress leaders were present at the press conference. The BJP is already pointing out the seat-sharing issue and the poster flair.
Bihar elections are scheduled to take place on November 6 and 11, with results on November 14.