Tejashwi Yadav launches 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra' with five rallies in a day

Patna/Jehanabad/Nalanda: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday launched a 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra' with back-to-back rallies in Patna and Jehanabad districts, besides Nalanda, the home turf of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whom he vowed to defeat in the upcoming assembly polls.

Although the yatra was initially scheduled for a launch from Jehanabad, about 30 km from the state capital, Yadav chose to go there after a rally at Masaurhi on the outskirts of Patna city.

Altogether five rallies were addressed by the 35-year-old leader, who remains proud of the blitzkrieg during the Lok Sabha polls last year when he had held more than 200 election meetings for the state's 40 parliamentary seats.

His five rallies during the day were in as many assembly segments, two each in Patna (Masaurhi and Fatuha) and Nalanda (Islampur and Hilsa), besides Jehanabad district's eponymous Vidhan Sabha constituency.

On the sidelines of the whistle-stop tour, the leader of the opposition took time off for a freewheeling conversation with PTI video.

"Wherever I go, the crowds chant the slogan 'do hazaar paanch se pachis bahut hua Nitish' (we have had enough of Nitish Kumar from 2005-25)," said Yadav, who has also had two short-lived tenures as deputy CM.

The RJD leader mocked his former boss Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), for telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a rally in Purnea district on Monday, that "I may have gone hither and thither on one or two occasions, but I shall now ever remain a BJP ally".

Yadav claimed, "I have been saying this for long- Nitish ji is no longer in his senses. If he keeps repeating the same thing again and again, it only shows he is not sure of himself".

The 35-year-old RJD MLA, however, reiterated the view that if Kumar's son Nishant agreed to enter politics, it might "save the JD(U), which, like our party, has roots in the socialist movement, from getting completely hijacked by the BJP".

Yadav was also asked about a poster put up by Union minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in which the Hajipur MP has been projected as the NDA's chief ministerial candidate.

The RJD leader replied, "If he (Chirag) has such an ambition, he should express it openly, without fear. However, I am more concerned about his single status. I am a father of two despite being younger than he is.

Political differences apart, I consider him as a big brother and whenever we meet I tell him that I am eagerly looking forward to join his baraat (wedding procession)".

Yadav also bristled at the NDA's constant gripe that while in power, the RJD had promoted "jungle raj (lawlessness)".

"What have they been doing in 20 years of their rule? Only yesterday did I intervene to get a case lodged against a BJP minister for abusing and manhandling a journalist. Is it not jungle raj?" he asked.

Yadav claimed, "So many bizarre things have happened in the recent past. Thousands of litres of liquor, confiscated in the name of enforcing prohibition, have vanished. People in hospitals have got their eyes gouged out. No action has been taken. All those who know me are aware of my emphasis on discipline. If I come to power, the lack of accountability will be brought to an end."

According to RJD sources, the first leg of the 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra' will come to a close on September 20. It is likely to resume after Durga Puja festivities.