As Nitish & Tejashwi take oath in Bihar, did Tej Pratap Yadav predict what was to unfold?

After the ceremony in Bihar's Raj Bhawan, Tej Pratap Yadav congratulated 'chhote bhai' Tejashwi Yadav for taking oath as the Deputy Chief Minister and 'Chachaji' Nitish Kumar for taking oath as the Chief Minister of the state. Taking to Twitter, Tej Pratap highlighted how under the 7-party Mahagathbandhan government, now, 'Bihar's development will gain pace more than ever'.

"My most respected uncle Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar and my younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. Now, development will get a boost in Bihar. Best wishes to uncle and my brother," Tej Pratap wrote.

Having spilt from the National Democratic Alliance, the Janata Dal-United (JDU) and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the Left parties to re-forge the Mahagathbandhan alliance and form a government in Bihar. In total, the Mahagathbandhan government is likely to have 35 ministers. It is being said that RJD will have 15 Ministers, and JDU will have to settle for 13 Ministerial berths. On the other hand, Congress and HAM might get 4 and 1 Ministries respectively.

Tej Pratap, who has earlier held important portfolios including Health, Minor Water Resources, and Environment & Forest ministries, is also in the fray. He had said that he will fulfil 'whatever responsibility he is entrusted with'. 

Tej Pratap's 'Chachaji' reference for Nitish 

Tej Pratap may deserve more credit than he is being given for the re-forging of the Mahagathbandhan. In April, when the first signs of crack were seen emerging in the NDA, with Nitish Kumar being at loggerheads with the-then partner BJP-led Central government over the caste-based census, the RJD leader had extended an invitation to the JDU leader to re-enter the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.  

On the microblogging site, the former Bihar cabinet minister shared a poster with  'Entry Nitish Chacha' written on it. 'It is imperative', read the post's caption. Interestingly, it was only about two weeks later that Nitish Kumar walked over to attend Tejashwi Yadav's Iftar party, signalling a beginning of the thaw in relations.