"Original" or "duplicate"? Tejashwi Yadav declares himself Chief Minister face, Rahul maintains silence despite being on stage

PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav unilaterally announced that he is the next Chief Minister of Bihar. The incident took place during a public event as part of Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'. Rahul Gandhi was recently asked if Tejashwi would be the Chief Ministerial candidate of Bihar, but he dodged the question. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was also present on the stage when Tejashwi made this announcement.

Tejashwi sharply criticized Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while addressing a rally in Aara. Tejashwi called him a 'copycat Chief Minister'. Tejashwi alleged that Nitish is making announcements by copying his proposals. "Tejashwi is moving ahead. The government is following behind," he said before asking the people whether they want the 'original Chief Minister' or the 'duplicate CM'.

Tejashwi's announcement is an indication that although the Congress is leading the alliance, they are the largest party in Bihar. Tejashwi is also actively participating in the journey with Rahul. Although there are no apparent problems in the relationship between the two, the hesitation of Congress and Rahul to publicly announce who the chief ministerial candidate is is slightly mystifying.

National media reports suggest that Congress's hesitation in supporting Tejashwi may be related to seat-sharing talks. The main issue is whether RJD will be willing to give up more seats to Congress. In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, Congress contested 70 seats but won only 19 seats. Even though RJD emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats, Congress's poor performance affected the alliance. This time too, Congress is reported to be contesting 70 seats.