PATNA: With chief minister Nitish Kumar speaking about his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s future role at almost every event, it seems Bihar may see a change of guard much sooner than expected.
On Monday too, Kumar while addressing a function after inaugurating a dental college at Nalanda said, “I have been doing the work in all sectors …. whatever is left now Tejashwi Ji will get it done and will continue to do so. There will be no problem with that.”
Incidentally, this is not the first time that Kumar has spoken about Tejashwi’s future role. On at least two occasions in Patna, he had said, “Ab isko aage badhana hai sab dekhna hai…sikhana hai (Now we have to push him (Tejashwi) forward.. he has to look after and learn).”
Co-relations are being made between Kumar’s utterances and demands made during JD(U)’s National Council meeting which portrayed Kumar as the future PM.
On his part, Tejashwi, who has been maintaining a low profile and taking steps in a calculative manner had been vocal in his praise for Kumar.
“Who could be a luckier person than me? Whose mother and father have been chief ministers, and leaders of the opposition. I myself have been deputy chief minister twice, leader of the opposition once, and have had the opportunity to work under the leadership of the most experienced chief minister (Nitish Kumar). Who can be luckier than I?” he said recently.
“Even if there’s a minor mistake in the documents, it might slip past bureaucrats and me, but the Chief Minister spots it,” he had said in praise of Kumar.
A few months back, voices started rising in RJD for passing on the baton to Tejashwi and his party MLA stated that he will soon take over as the next CM of Bihar.
RJD MLA Izhar Asfi had even claimed that Tejashwi Yadav will become Bihar CM in a couple of months. “Almost everyone is ready but there are some formalities to be followed, it may take a couple of months to fulfill them but Tejashwi Yadav will sit on the chair and become the Chief Minister of Bihar,” the RJD MLA had said.
Earlier in September, RJD Bihar president Jagadanand Singh had said that in 2023, Tejashwi will take over as Nitish Kumar’s successor as the next Bihar CM while the JD(U) de facto chief will devote himself to national politics.
The demand for a change in guard, though in a subtle manner, has been making the rounds after JD (U)’s defeat at the Kurhani by-poll when former RJD MLA Anil Sahni, who lost his candidature in assembly, demanded Kumar’s resignation.