- Tejashwi Yadav congratulated Nitish Kumar on taking oath as Bihar chief minister for the 10th time
- Yadav's RJD won only 25 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, down from 75 in 2020
- The congratulatory post came amid turmoil in the Yadav family
In his first comments after his party's drubbing in the Bihar elections, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has congratulated JDU leader Nitish Kumar for taking oath as the chief minister and said he hopes the new government will fulfil the expectations of the people.
The 36-year-old RJD leader, who was declared the opposition Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, led the party to one of its worst electoral performances, ending up with just 25 of Bihar's 243 Assembly seats in the recently concluded elections. The party's tally crashed to a third from 75 in 2020, while the NDA, led by the BJP and JDU, took great strides forward, winning a total of 202 seats.
Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar chief minister for the 10th time on Thursday with the BJP's Samrat Chadhuary and Vijay Sinha returning as deputy chief ministers.
Taking to X, Tejashwi Yadav congratulated Kumar and others.
"Heartfelt congratulations to Shri Nitish Kumar Ji on taking the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Bihar. Heartfelt best wishes to all the ministers of the Bihar government who took oath as members of the Council of Ministers," Yadav wrote.
"I hope that the new government will live up to the hopes and expectations of people, fulfil its promises and declarations, and bring positive and qualitative changes in the lives of the people of Bihar," he added.
The post comes at a time when there is turmoil not only within the party but also the Yadav family following the shocking loss.
Yadav reportedly had a heated argument with his sister Rohini Acharya on November 15, a day after the Bihar assembly election results were announced, and blamed her for the loss. He also allegedly threw a slipper at her and abused her, sources said.
The same day, Acharya said she was disowning her family and quitting politics. She also blamed two of Yadav's close aides, Sanjay Yadav and Rameez Nemat Khan, for forcing her to take the call.
Three more of Lalu Yadav's daughters - Rajlakshmi, Ragini and Chanda - also left the family's 10, Circular Road residence in Patna.
The latest rift followed the expulsion of the family's eldest son, Tej Pratap, who formed the Janshakti Janata Dal and contested the election solo, but could not win any seats.
Refused Role
Sources had told NDTV that Tejashwi Yadav wanted to take responsibility for the RJD's performance in the poll and refused to become the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, but relented after his father and party chief Lalu Yadav insisted.
"I am handling the party's affairs on his orders. I tried very hard in this election but was unsuccessful," Tejashwi was quoted by sources as saying.
Tejashwi's offer to give up the post was shot down, and Lalu Yadav insisted that he must continue to lead the party in the House, the sources had said.
