Tejashwi steps into Lalu's shoes to spearhead RJD poll campaign

With his father and former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad away from the Bihar Assembly elections for the first time in over 40 years, his son and RJD leader Tejashwi has stepped in effortlessly in the former's shoes to spearhead his party's campaign.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader on Friday shared the stage at a public rally with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Hisua in Nawada district, the latter's first rally for the Grand Alliance in the poll-bound state.

Tejashwi has attracted attention with the kind of crowds he is pulling to his election rallies in Bihar, creating a niche while addressing about a dozen-odd rallies daily in Bihar. Needless to say, the stakes are high for the Grand Alliance, and still higher for the RJD to dominate the Bihar politics once again.

Tejashwi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, is the RJD face on party posters and campaigns. He is attacking Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- once an ally of his jailed father -- at his public rallies.

"Though the Janata Dal-United is in power for more than 13 years, the balance is now tilting towards the RJD-led alliance," remarked a party leader.

Even though RJD has arrayed 30 star campaigners, only Tejashwi is seen campaigning on the ground ahead of the three-phase elections. Party campaign managers say that  Tejashwi would end up addressing more than 200 rallies as he is in high demand.

RJD leader Manoj Jha said: "The issues raised by Tejashwi at his public rallies are getting high traction among the people of Bihar and pushed the NDA on the back foot."

Though party leaders "miss" the presence of Lalu Prasad, known for his oratorial skills, but maintain that even Tejashwi has given the nightmares to the NDA leaders that they did not expect from a young leader.

Tejashwi brings up the issue of jobs during his speeches since he knows the craze for government jobs in the state. His party has promised 10 lakh jobs to the Bihar youths in case it returns to power.

Analysts feel after the migrant crisis during coronavirus lockdown and the promise of 10 lakh jobs have managed to draw huge crowds to the RJD election rallies.