Tejashwi Yadav says he is not in a hurry to become CM, ousting BJP the main goal now

On February 20, ruling party JD(U)’s parliamentary board chairman and party MLC Upendra Kushwaha quit the party questioning Nitish Kumar’s intention to look for his successor in his “neighbour’s house”

A day after a Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA claimed that Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar would hand over his chair to Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav in March, the latter said on February 22 that he was in no hurry to become Chief Minister as the coalition’s main agenda was to “remove the BJP from power at the Centre in the 2024 general election”.

“I’m not in hurry [to become Chief Minister] and you [mediapersons] all should know the meaning of it. Our main agenda is to remove the BJP from power in the 2024 general election. Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s leadership, the mahagathbandhan [grand alliance] government is working well and there is no confusion in it,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told presspersons in Bodh Gaya.

Also Read | Nitish Kumar drops hints he may pass on mantle to Tejashwi Yadav

On February 21, the RJD MLA from Dinara constituency in Rohtas district, Vijay Kumar Mandal, claimed Mr. Kumar would hand over the Chief Minister’s chair to Mr. Yadav in March after Holi. Some RJD leaders and legislators too have often been echoing it.

On February 20, ruling party JD(U)’s parliamentary board chairman and party MLC Upendra Kushwaha quit the party questioning Mr. Kumar’s intention to look for his successor in his “neighbour’s house”. Both Mr. Kumar and former CM and RJD leader Rabri Devi, in whose official residence Mr. Yadav lives, are neighbours in Patna. Earlier, Mr. Kumar has been saying that Mr. Yadav would lead the mahagathbandhan in the 2025 Assembly election. Looking at Mr. Yadav, Mr. Kumar said at a function, “ Ab inko aage badhana hai [now, we’ve to push him forward]”.

However, asked when Mr. Kumar would hand over the reins of Bihar to Mr. Yadav, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh told mediapersons on February 20 at the State party headquarters that Mr. Kumar had never said Mr. Yadav would be mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face in the 2025 election.

“We never said that,” he said, adding, “ask this question in 2025, not now in 2023”. Later on February 22, Mr. Singh said in Delhi, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said that Tejashwi Yadav would lead the mahagathbandhan in the 2025 Assembly election and there is no contradiction in it. The elected legislators would elect the Chief Minister.”