Lalu Yadav believes that if Tej Pratap is not reined in now, he will continue to needle Tejashwi.
The proxy war between Lalu Yadav's sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap has once again stirred the pot in Bihar's opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In the latest fight between the brothers, Tejashwi has removed the party's student unit chief, infuriating Tej Pratap.
Akash Yadav, Tej Pratap's protege, was collateral damage in the sibling rivalry. Sources say Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Yadav's younger son and political heir, had his father's tacit approval.
Before sacking Akash Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav also persuaded a Tej Pratap adversary, Jagdanand Singh to come out of his sulk. An upset Jagadanand Singh, the chief of RJD's Bihar unit, had stopped going to office after Tej Pratap accused him of running the party "Hitler-style".
Lalu Yadav, who has resumed his political activities since his release from jail earlier this year, has been "monitoring" the shenanigans and cleared Tejashwi's moves knowing full well that his older son Tej Pratap would be furious.
The RJD veteran believes that if Tej Pratap is not reined in now, he will continue to needle Tejashwi and that is unacceptable to him.
RJD sources believe Lalu Yadav has decided that enough is enough when it comes to Tej Pratap, who has been a constant source of embarrassment for the party with his controversial statements, his penchant for posing in costumes, and his rocky marriage.
After meeting with Tejashwi on Wednesday, Jagdanand Singh said he would continue in the post only because of Lalu Yadav. Mr Singh declared that anyone was free to say anything about him but no indiscipline would be tolerated. It was an indirect reference to Tej Pratap's tweet, which implied that the manner of Akash Yadav's removal violated the party's constitution.
"In taking advice from outsiders the party chief forgot that the party is guided by its constitution, which says that no one can be removed from a post without notice. Whatever happened is against the RJD's constitution," Tej Pratap tweeted.
The unnamed "adviser" is Tejashwi's close aide Sanjay Yadav. This morning, Tejashwi stressed that he and his father were there to sort out any problem.