Tej Pratap walks out of meeting with Tejashwi; 'interrupted' amid talks over sacking aide

The rift amongst Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party leaders came out in the open on Friday, as Tej Pratap walked out of his family home in Patna after meeting Tejashwi, saying that the meeting had been 'interrupted'. Talking to the media on his way out, the elder son of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi asserted that while he was still discussing the matter with his younger brother, party leader Sanjay Yadav intervened midway.

'Who is he to speak between two brothers', a fuming Tej Pratap asked, after the meeting with his last resort, his brother, failed to yield the desired results in the matter related to the ouster of his aide and Chhatra RJD's president Aakash Yadav. It is pertinent to mention here that before going for the meeting, Tej Pratap seemed quite positive. "I am going to put all my points in front of Tejashwi." He added exuding confidence, "Till now, my Arjun (Tejashwi) has stayed with me, supported me, and I am hopeful, even this time he will support me."

Talking about comments being made by RJD Bihar chief Jagadanand Singh, he said," I am not concerned about who is saying what in the public domain." Jagadanand Singh, while talking to the media earlier in the day had said that he was unaware that the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav was angry with him. Pointing out that Tej Pratap may be having a misunderstanding, the RJD Bihar chief added,"He wants to make a small thing into a big matter."

"Who is Tej Pratap? I am not accountable to Tej Pratap. I am accountable to Lalu Prasad, he is my president. Among 75 party members, he (Tej Pratap) is one of them. Does he have any other post at the party?" RJD Bihar chief Jagadanand Singh added. 

Jagadanand Singh sacks Chhatra RJD's president

On Wednesday, Jagadanand Singh nominated Gagan Kumar as president of RJD in Chhatra, replacing Aakash Yadav, a close aide of Tej Pratap. This development reportedly took place after Singh held a meeting with Tejashwi Yadav at his residence.

However, the very next day Tejashwi said that everything will be fine in the party. "Everyone has different opinions. I only want to say that if I am here, the state's party chief is here, everything will be fixed. Everything will be fine. I do not want to say much on this. We are doing our work," he stated. 

In November 2019, Jagadanand Singh was made RJD state chief, succeeding Ram Chandra Purve - who was state president for 10 years. Jagadanand - a Rajput - is a close confidante of Lalu Yadav and was nominated after Tej Pratap had rebelled against Purve, seeking his ouster as Purve was allegedly sidelining Pratap. The elder Yadav son, reports suggested, had pushed for Jagadanand's appointment as the chief back then.