PATNA: INDIA bloc CM face Tejashwi Yadav‘s projection as “jannayak (people’s leader)” and “nayak (hero)” has been contested not only by BJP but also by a senior within his own RJD, with its national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui taking exception to such labels. Siddiqui said it would take Tejashwi time and hard work to get the title of Jannayak, which is exclusively used for former Bihar CM and Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur. “Tejashwi is engaged in politics based on his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s legacy. He is the virasat (legacy) of Lalu Prasad’s politics and may get this honour after establishing himself by following the footsteps of his father and Thakur,” Siddiqui added.
While RJD posters with Tejashwi’s photograph, captioned “Bihar ka Nayak” have come up ahead of next month’s assembly elections, he as well as Congress Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi were first called jannayak during “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in the state over a month ago against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The row seems to have intensified after Congress put up social media posts on Monday with videos and photos of Rahul, describing him as jannayak. Tejashwi’s estranged elder brother Tej Pratap also disapproved of such titles. “Calling yourself jannayak doesn’t make you a people’s leader. Karpoori Thakur, Ram Manohar Lohia, Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi were the real jannayaks. Rahul and Tejashwi are under the “chatrachaya (protection and patronage) of Lalu Prasad. If that protection is removed, they will be nothing,” Tej Pratap said. BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla seized on Siddiqui’s statement to claim that neither the public nor his own colleagues had confidence in Tejaswhi. “Despite contesting elections for years, he has failed to earn people’s trust. Even within his circle, from RJD’s Abdul Bari Siddiqui to SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra, besides his brother Tej Pratap, no one sees him as a true leader,” he said. Another BJP spokesperson, Ajay Alok, took the title tiff further, saying Tejashwi “is not a nayak but nalayak”.
