Bihar: Tejashwi Yadav vows to 'bring down Nitish Kumar govt' if RJD wins both bypolls

Ahead of Bihar bypolls, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, while campaigning on Monday, vowed to bring down the Nitish Kumar government if RJD wins both seats. Addressing a public rally at Tarapur, Yadav lashed at JD(U) for failing to care for its own MLA Mewalal Chaudhary as he died failing to get a bed amid the COVID surge. Two seats - Tarapur and Kusheshwarsthan are up for bypolls after its MLAs - Mewalal Chaudhary and Shashi Bhushan Hazari's death. Voting is scheduled to take place on October 30 and results will be announced on November 2.

Tejashwi: 'Will bring down Nitish govt'

"Everyone knows why bypolls are happening - due to deaths of current Mewalal Chaudhary and Shashi Bhushan Hazari. Mewalal Chaudhary kept calling the administration seeking hospital admission when he was ill, but no officer even picked up his calls. He died because he did not get right healthcare. If we were voted to power, we had promised good income, healthcare, education, water, judicial system, law and order," he said.

He added, "In 2020, by 4 o'clock we had won. Then they stopped counting and restarted at 10 PM to 2 AM. By doing malpractices in 2-4 seats, they made NDA win. But this time, if you vote for Arun Sah from Tarapur and Ganesh Bhart from Kusheshwarsthan, we will bring down this government which was made by false backdoor entries".

Tejashwi is currently facing embarrassment back home after elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who has floated his own organisation 'Chatra Janshakti Parishad', endorsed the Congress candidates for the seats. Tej Pratap has been miffed since he, along with sister Misa Bharti and mother Rabri Devi were not named in RJD's star campaigners. He has accused Tejashwi of eyeing the party's top post and keeping his father Lalu Yadav hostage in Delhi.

Bihar bypolls

17 candidates are in fray for the by-election to Tarapur and Kusheshwarasthan seats informed election office on Saturday. For the by-polls, JDU has fielded Rajiv Kumar Singh from Tarapur and Aman Bhushan Hazari, son of three-time MLA Shashi Hazari for Kusheshwarsthan, with the backing of BJP and other NDA partners like the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insaan Party. RJD's Arun Kumar and Rajesh Mishra of the Congress eye to rob JDU of a seat in Tarapur, while RJD's Ganesh Bharti and Congress' Atirek Ram eye the Kusheshwarstan seat. RJD refused to cede a single seat to ally Congress stating 'it won't be able to win any seat'. On the other hand, the Left Front including CPI, CPI(M), and CPI(M-L) have backed RJD.