Tejashwi: Will follow Lalu’s path, never bow before present regime

Patna: Opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday warned that if any of his party workers were harassed, the RJD would give a befitting reply. He said he would continue to follow the path shown by his father Lalu Prasad and would neither deviate from his ideologies nor bow before the present regime.Tejashwi was addressing RJD leaders and workers who gathered in large numbers at the party’s Beerchand Patel Path office during an ‘Abhinandan Samaroh’ organised to felicitate him. He visited the party office for the first time after being given the charge of RJD national working president and thanked his father for reposing faith in him and assigning the responsibility.“We will take together all those who follow the ideologies of Lalu Ji.

Lalu Ji showed bravery and did not compromise with his ideologies even though he was sent to jail; Tejashwi will also not bow,” he said, recalling his political journey in which he served as deputy CM and leader of opposition. “It is for the first time that I have been given a responsibility in the party’s organisation, and I am thankful to Lalu Ji for showing his faith,” Tejashwi added.He urged party members to unite and work like RJD soldiers, go among the masses and support those who are suppressed, poor, economically deprived, extremely backward, Dalits and minorities.

Boosting the morale of party workers, Tejashwi said that despite being harassed during elections through false charges, they continued to raise their voice for the marginalised. “I want to say that if any of our workers is humiliated, we will not spare them. I know this is not Loktantra, but a Dartantra,” he said.He said the present time might not belong to him, but the coming era would, as he had a long innings to play. “We have a long battle to fight,” he said, adding that while Lalu Ji made RJD a national party, he too harboured the same dream.Targeting CM Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi said he was wrongly framed after the CM joined hands with the BJP. “Nitish Ji can be a CM, but he can never be a leader. It is Lalu Ji who is the leader of Bihar,” he said.He also attacked the NDA govt led by PM Narendra Modi at the centre over issues such as farmers’ distress, foreign relations and alleged interference by the American President in India’s matters.Earlier, Tejashwi was accorded a grand welcome as senior party leaders and workers from across Bihar gathered at the RJD office.