"RJD's behaviour and character will remain the same": Bihar Minister over Tejasvi Yadav's appointment as RJD President

Patna (Bihar) [India], January 27 (ANI): Bihar Minister Deepak Prakash criticised the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) following the appointment of party leader Tejashwi Yadav as its national working president, asserting that the party’s “behaviour and character” would remain unchanged despite the leadership transition.

Launching a sharp attack on the RJD’s past tenure in Bihar on Monday, Prakash described the party’s rule as “jungle raj” and said that merely changing the face at the helm would not alter the party’s functioning or political approach.

Reacting to Tejashwi Yadav’s elevation, Prakash told reporters, "He has become the national executive president of the RJD. Just as there was 'jungle raj' during the RJD's rule from 1990 to 2005, the RJD's behaviour and character will remain the same; only the face has changed,” he told the reporters.

Earlier, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai criticised the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after Tejashwi Yadav was formally appointed as the party's national working president, calling it a "family-run party" and a "symbol of dynastic politics."

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, MoS Home Rai said, "Tejashwi Yadav's coronation as Working President of the party is neither new for the RJD nor for Bihar. The Lalu family has been working on the principle of 'family first' in Bihar for the past three decades. In the same sequence, Tejashwi Yadav has been formally made the RJD Working President today, but the fact is that RJD's functioning and control have been in Tejashwi Yadav's hands for years."

He further alleged that neither the Lalu family nor the Rashtriya Janata Dal is concerned with Bihar's development or the upliftment of its poor, Dalits, and deprived communities.

"The Lalu family's sole and fundamental objective is the prosperity of its own family. Once again today, Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav have proved that family comes first," Rai added.

The Union Minister, a former Bihar BJP President and Lok Sabha MP from Ujiarpur, asserted, "Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has never even thought about the development of anyone outside of his own family. Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, who engage in so-called politics in the name of the poor and the backward classes, have given the people of Bihar nothing except goonda Raj, Jungle raj and Corruption. The Lalu family, which enforces the principle of "family first," is the biggest obstacle to the progress of the people of Bihar."

The appointment of former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav as RJD’s national working president was announced during the inaugural session of the party's national executive meeting, where party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav handed over the appointment letter to his son in the presence of senior leaders, including former Bihar Chief Ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. (ANI)