Anand St Das By

PATNA: Massive crowds turning up at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav’s rallies have come as a morale booster to his party workers and enhanced his reputation as a leader who is not averse to mingling with people. Tejashwi’s yatra has overturned the perception that the RJD — Bihar’s main Opposition party and one that has the largest number of MLAs — was a rudderless organisation with a rapidly shrinking support base.

The RJD’s de-facto chief began the fourth phase of his ‘Samvidhan Bachao Nyay Yatra’ from Saran. At a hugely attended public meeting at Chhapra’s Nagar Palika Maidan, former Bihar Legislative Council vice-chairman and JD(U) legislator Salim Pervez joined the RJD in his presence.

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Significantly, Tejashwi chose Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, Motihari and Bettiah — all Lok Sabha constituencies currently represented by the BJP — to address crowded rallies. Behind Tejashwi’s choice of Saran to start his yatra is the fact that this parliamentary constituency is considered to be his father Lalu Prasad Yadav’s pocket borough. It was from Chhapra (now Saran constituency) that he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. In 2014, Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi was defeated in Saran by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Dubbing the JD(U)-BJP government a result of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s “betrayal of the people’s mandate,” Tejashwi has been mounting blistering attacks on the two ruling parties mainly over rise in crime, communal violence and atrocities on Dalits. He has also been describing the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as “Godse’s people”, which is scheming to change the Constitution.

RJD leaders say Tejashwi’s yatra has helped to erase the impression that the 29-year-old is an ‘armchair politician’. It has also projected him as a ‘tough’ leaderas. “People have realised that the state’s future will be shaped by Tejashwi’s leadership...” said senior RJD leader Alok Mehta.

But, the BJP sought to downplay the yatra. “Charge-sheeted people are busy enacting a drama in the name of saving the Constitution while their saga of corruption and links with criminals are for all to see...” claimed deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.

Bolstering opinion

Tejashwi chose Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, Motihari and Bettiah — all LS constituencies currently represented by the BJP — to address crowded rallies. The response has raised hopes among the ranks of the RJD of a new leader emerging