‘Tejashwi, there is still time’: Tej Pratap warns Voter Adhikar Yatra by his brother and Rahul Gandhi will have ‘disastrous results’

“I do not understand whether Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are out to save democracy or to destroy it,” Tej Pratap posted on X in response to reports that a driver of an RJD MLA and a journalist were allegedly assaulted during the Yatra in Aurangabad.

“The way Vijay Kumar Singh alias Dabloo Singh’s driver and a journalist were beaten and abused by ‘Jaichand’ is absolutely wrong and shameful. I strongly condemn it,” he said.

He further warned his younger brother, “Tejashwi, there is still time… Beware of the Jaichands around you, or else the results of the elections will be disastrous.” He ended his post with a pointed jibe: “The election results will show how wise you really are.”

Yadav’s criticism comes as Gandhi leads a 16-day Voter Adhikar Yatra through Bihar, joined by Mahagathbandhan alliance leaders including Tejashwi and father Lalu Prasad, marking the Opposition’s first major mass mobilisation in the state ahead of Assembly elections due later this year.

Addressing a rally on the third day of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Nawada, Tejashwi also called upon the youth to “root out the NDA” from the state in the Assembly elections.

The RJD leader described Gandhi as the one “who has given sleepless nights to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” for undertaking the state-wide yatra.

“In the upcoming Assembly polls, we shall root out the NDA, which has been running a government comparable to a rickety old car (‘khatara’) for the last 20 years. And, in the next Lok Sabha polls, we shall make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister,” said Tejashwi, evoking cheers from the crowd.

The 1,300-km yatra, which began in Sasaram and will traverse 23 districts and 50 Assembly segments, including strongholds and swing constituencies for Mahagathbandhan, is raising issues of electoral justice and political accountability amid the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. It is also being seen as a grassroots campaign by the Opposition to challenge the JDU-BJP National Democratic Alliance in the state.

Tej Pratap dismissed the outreach efforts as lacking substance. “They are doing yatras and raising issues, but nothing will come out of it. The real issues should be education, healthcare, and unemployment,” he told reporters asking for his view on the Voter Adhikar Yatra.

Tej Pratap’s attack on Congress and RJD came weeks later after he extended an open invitation to the parties to join his newly formed alliance. On August 5, Tej Pratap formally announced a political front under the banner of “Team Tej Pratap Yadav”, comprising 5 smaller regional parties.

His latest remarks are part of his new confrontational stance towards the RJD, following his expulsion from the party and family in May by Lalu Prasad. Last month, he had criticised the RJD’s silence on allegations against their senior MLA Bhai Virendra, who was purportedly caught on audio threatening a panchayat official.

(With PTI inputs)