‘Doesn’t match Lalu Yadav’s persona’: Tejashwi dismisses Tej Pratap’s ‘father held captive in Delhi’ claim

Reacting to his brother Tej Pratap’s remarks that their father Lalu Prasad Yadav was being held hostage in Delhi, Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said that such remarks don’t match the stature of the RJD supremo. “Lalu Ji had been CM of Bihar for a long time. He even got LK Advani arrested. These things don’t match with his stature,” he said.

Tej Pratap had on Saturday said that Lalu Prasad, who is battling multiple diseases, has been confined to Delhi ever since he walked out of the jail around a year ago. Tej Pratap indirectly attacked Tejashwi, alleging that that latter was trying to replace his father as National President of RJD.

“My father is unwell. There are 4-5 people in party who’ve seen dream of becoming Rashtriya Janata Dal’s national chief. Don’t need to name them as it’s known to everyone. He was released nearly yr ago from jail but is held hostage in Delhi,” he said while addressing a training program of his newly formed outfit “Chatra Jan shakti” Parishad in Patna.

Tej Pratap has been involved in a power tussle with Tejashwi Yadav for the past several months. The infighting within the RJD came out in public when Tej Pratap, after being seemingly sidelined in the party and being involved in a standoff with state unit president Jagdanand Singh, last month formed a new organisation — Chhatra Janshakti Parishad — which is said to be parallel to Chhatra RJD, the party’s students’ wing.

Lalu Yadav had appointed Tejashwi Yadav as his political heir in 2015 when he was made the Deputy CM under Nitish Kumar. In turn, over a period of six years, Tejashwi has established himself as the leader of the RJD. However, Tej Pratap wants control over the party if Tejashwi emerges as a Chief Ministerial candidate.