{"id":356706,"date":"2025-09-22T13:53:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=356706"},"modified":"2025-09-22T13:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:29:07","slug":"discord-in-lalu-prasad-family-will-it-affect-rjds-electoral-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/discord-in-lalu-prasad-family-will-it-affect-rjds-electoral-prospects\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Discord’ in Lalu Prasad’ family\u2014will it affect\u00a0RJD’s electoral prospects\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The RJD is the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. Infighting in its first family, especially involving siblings Rohini Acharya and Tej Pratap Yadav, may projects instability. Voters may see this as a sign of weak leadership or lack of internal control, the BJP and JD(U) are already using Rohini\u2019s posts and Tej Pratap\u2019s rebellion to attack Tejashwi’s leadership.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As Bihar heads into elections, cracks seem to have surfaced within the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)\u2019s first family, revealing internal discord that could possibly impact the party\u2019s performance and broader prospects of the Opposition-led mahagathbandhan<\/em> (grand alliance). Though the party is trying to brush the family discord under the carpet, at the heart of the tension is the growing influence of Sanjay Yadav\u2014political advisor to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, RJD\u2019s leader and Lalu Prasad Yadav\u2019s younger son. The discontent spilled into public view when Lalu\u2019s daughter, Rohini Acharya, unfollowed both her brother Tejashwi and Sanjay Yadav on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have fulfilled my duty and dharma as a daughter and a sister, and I will continue to do so. I have no desire for any position, nor do I have any political ambition. For me, my self-respect is supreme,\u201d she wrote in a cryptic post, prompting widespread speculation about rifts within the party\u2019s top leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Rohini had flagged a photograph showing Sanjay Yadav occupying the front seat in the party\u2019s campaign van during the \u2018Bihar Adhikar Yatra\u2019 \u2014 a campaign tour led by Tejashwi that concluded last Saturday. She also reposted a social media comment criticising Sanjay\u2019s prominent visibility at the rally, suggesting that the front seat in the yatra bus should be reserved for either Lalu Prasad or Tejashwi \u2014 and left vacant in their absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rohini, who is Lalu Prasad\u2019s second-eldest daughter and a kidney donor to her father in 2022, is seen as a figure of moral authority within the family. Her subtle but pointed posts have provided fodder for the RJD\u2019s political rivals. Reacting to the online fracas, Lalu\u2019s eldest son, Tej Pratap Yadav, came out in support of his sister. \u201cAnyone who insults my sisters will face the Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Krishna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tej Pratap Yadav \u2014 an MLA and former Bihar minister \u2014 has been a controversial figure within the RJD. He was recently expelled from the party following a row over a now-deleted Facebook post announcing a romantic relationship with a woman named Anushka Yadav. While he initially claimed his account had been hacked, he later defended his actions, stating, \u201cNo one would tolerate interference in their personal life.\u201d In response to his expulsion, Tej Pratap launched his own political outfit,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Tej Pratap, and has begun announcing candidates for the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, opposition Janata Dal (United) seized the opportunity to take on the rival with JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar remarked, \u201cRohini Acharya is a daughter who donated a kidney for her father. She has expressed her pain through a tweet. Now, Lalu Yadav, as the head of the family, it is your responsibility to decide who is at fault.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an apparent attempt to manage the optics around Sanjay Yadav’s role, the RJD moved to downplay his prominence by seating Dalit leaders \u2014 including Shiv Chandra Ram and Rekha Paswan \u2014 in the front seat of the yatra bus. Rohini acknowledged this saying \u201cIt has been the prime motto of Lalu Prasad\u2019s socio-economic justice campaign to bring forward the deprived and people on the last rung of the social ladder. It is heartening to see people from these sections sitting in the front seat in these pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether these efforts will be enough to contain the family feud \u2014 and its fallout \u2014 remains to be seen. With the Opposition relying heavily on the RJD to deliver a strong performance in Bihar, the internal rift could have implications beyond just one party, affecting the broader fortunes of the mahagathbandhan<\/em> in the run-up to the elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The RJD is the largest party in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. Infighting in its first family, especially involving siblings Rohini Acharya and Tej Pratap Yadav, may projects instability. Voters may see this as a sign of weak leadership or lack of internal control, the BJP and JD(U) are already using Rohini\u2019s posts and Tej Pratap\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":301803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2915],"tags":[17301,16188,17299,18067],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356710,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356706\/revisions\/356710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/301803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}