Country waiting for Nitish Kumar and people of Bihar waiting for Tejashwi Yadav as CM: Bihar RJD president

Credits: PTI

New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Jagadanand Singh on Thursday (September 29, 2022) said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will go to the Centre and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will become the chief minister in 2023. The RJD leader said that the nation is waiting for Nitish Kumar while Bihar is waiting for Tejashwi to become the CM.

Jagadanand Singh, who is said to be very close to former CM Lalu Prasad, said. "Whatever Nitish Kumar had announced, I believe that he will fight for the country after the end of 2022 and will hand over the future of Bihar to Tejashwi Yadav in 2023."

Jagadanand Singh's statement is expected to invite strong political reactions. With Nitish Kumar moving to a larger national role ahead of the 2024 polls, the RJD sees the handover of Bihar chief ministership to Tejashwi more as a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

"The post of chief minister is highest in the state and Tejashwi will take it further. The country is waiting for Nitish Kumar and the people of Bihar are waiting for Tejashwi Yadav," Singh said.

Singh's remarks comes a few days after Nitish Kumar visited the national capital and met several political leaders to muster Opposition unity to take on the Narendra Modi in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

During his visit to Delhi, Bihar CM met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Janata Dal (Secular) chief H D Kumaraswamy, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Lalu Prasad had said the same thing in Delhi. He said that he wants to see Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister of Bihar.

Earlier on Tuesday, Nitish Kumar, during a state government event, pronounced the post of chief minister for Tejashwi Yadav. It has led to speculation whether it was a slip of the tongue by Nitish Kumar or he deliberately said it.

Now, it will be interesting to see how the JD-U reacts to it.

(With agency inputs)