Soon after Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lost power, former Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Tejashwi Yadav hit the streets.
In less than a month, the RJD organised a Jan Vishwas Yatra and Tejashwi travelled across 32 out of the 40 districts of Bihar. He talked about the basics, i.e., unemployment, poverty, inflation, rise in communalism, misuse of agencies and of course, Nitish Kumar’s opportunism. He reminded people of his work, especially the record number of employees in 17 months of his tenure in the Mahagathbandhan government with the Janata Dal (United) (JD[U]).
Tejashwi has captured the pulse of Bihar. He knows that the contest is between the RJD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nitish Kumar might still be relevant in Bihar, but his politics has dismantled the JD(U). His flip-flops and their justifications have turned him into a laughing stock. The electorate is frustrated to the extent that, sarcastically speaking, they want the RJD and the BJP to form a government only to throw out Nitish Kumar.
In hindsight, it would not be wrong to say that Nitish’s political tantrums have helped Tejashwi acquire better political acumen. He has rubbished the tags of dynasty politics or a ninth-pass leader with his grounded and genuine efforts to engage with the masses.