On Saturday, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav announced himself as the chief ministerial candidate for the Grand Alliance in Bihar. The leader made the declaration unilaterally while Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav stood by him on stage. Despite this bold move, Rahul Gandhi has remained silent and avoided making a clear statement on the CM issue.
Tejashwi took a sharp dig at Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and even labelled him a “copycat Chief Minister,” while addressing the crowd. He criticised Nitish Kumar for simply mirroring others’ policies and lacking any originality. Tejashwi asked the audience if they preferred an “original Chief Minister” or a “duplicate,” while he subsequently positioned himself as the original leader.
The rally also aligned with Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing march against what he and his allies have called “vote theft” in Bihar. The protest targets the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The yatra, which began from Sasaram on August 17, has passed through over a dozen districts. Some of the more well-known locations covered through the yatra were, Darbhanga, Nawada, Gaya, and Purnea, with its final destination in Patna after covering Bhojpur.
Rahul Gandhi accused the ECI of conspiring with the BJP to rig elections, stating, “We will not let you steal the election in Bihar. You stole in Maharashtra, in Haryana, and in Karnataka, we exposed the theft. We will not let it happen here.”
Yet, the silence from Rahul Gandhi and the Congress regarding the candidate has been perplexing, especially considering the visible camaraderie between Rahul and Tejashwi during the Voter Adhikar Yatra. The party has yet to take a clear stance on the CM issue despite public displays of unity.
