RASHTRIYA JANATA Dal (RJD) LEADER Tejashwi Yadav joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Naya Yatra in Bihar on Friday, standing next to the Congress leader in a red-coloured vehicle and even driving it for a stretch. This is the first time that both these leaders were seen together after the recent exit of Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar from the INDIA bloc. Both targeted Nitish as they addressed a joint rally in Dhaneychha area of Durgawati block in Kaimur district of Bihar, where Tejashwi referred to Nitish as “Thake Hue Mukhyamantri,”(Tired Chief Minister) while Rahul Gandhi equated Nitish with “actors standing next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the limelight.” Maintaining that the RJD never wanted to enter into an alliance with Nitish in the first place, Tejashwi said, “The (Bihar) Chief Minister had come pleading before my parents and said he made a big mistake. He said that (Prime Minister) Modi was breaking his party. He sought forgiveness and asked to us to join hands with him to defeat the BJP.” “Woh thakey hue mukhyamantri se, humne 5 lakh sarkar naukri dilwane ka kaam kiya…” (From that tired CM, Nitish Kumar ji, I ensured 5 lakh jobs were generated…) claimed Tejashwi. He said, “He (Nitish) had no answer as to why he sided with the BJP. Even I cannot say whether it was out of fear of the ED or the CBI).” Rahul Gandhi said that one would see actors along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and these days, sometimes even Nitish Kumar would also be seen along with PM, but neither him nor Tejashwi would be seen as they raise the issue of farmers, poor, labourers and small traders. Rahul said that first step towards social justice is a caste-based census and added that first task is to find out how many Dalit, ST or backwards are there.
