"Won't Contest Polls Without Chief Minister Face": Tejashwi Yadav

The Grand Alliance will not contest the Bihar assembly election without a Chief Ministerial face, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav told NDTV today, packing in a little dig. "Are we the BJP that we do not have any faces? We definitely will not contest the elections without projecting a Chief Ministerial face," he said in an exclusive interview while on supplementary Adhikar Yatra -areas that had been left out from the main Opposition footmarch that concluded two weeks ago. 

Mr Yadav has unequivocally endorsed Congress's Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial face of the Opposition INDIA bloc. Though in the process, he ruffled the feathers of several leaders, Mr Gandhi has not returned the favour and named him the Grand Alliance's Chief Ministerial face for Bihar.

Asked about the matter, Mr Yadav was unperturbed. "Wait a little bit. It is the people who would decide on the Chief Minister. But having a Chief Minister or a government is not the main thing. We have to build Bihar," he said. 

"It makes no difference if there is a delay of five or 10 days," he added. 

Once the seat sharing is done, this issue would also be tackled, he said, underscoring that they would not contest without a Chief Ministerial face.

On August 31, the penultimate day of the opposition yatra, Mr Yadav had dropped broad hints that he would be the Chief Ministerial face of the alliance.

"This is a copycat government. We need an original CM, not a duplicate one," he had said at a rally in Ara, targeting Mr Kumar. 

Then, turning to the crowd, he had asked, "Is it not a copycat government? Isn't it copying me? Tejashwi is ahead; the government is behind. Do you want a duplicate CM or an original CM?" 

While the Congress, as a junior partner in the alliance, is not likely to resist to Mr Yadav's being the Chief Ministerial face, Rahul Gandhi had avoided a direct reply when asked. 

"All INDIA bloc partners are working together in a spirit of mutual respect, without any tension. We will contest the polls together and the results will be good," he had told reporters, with Mr Yadav at his side.