Patna: It's high time for RJD state unit president Jagdanand Singh to bid adieu to RJD as Lalu Prasad's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav continues to humiliate him in public domain. In the latest attack, Tej Pratap termed him 'Hitler', the Nazi leader of Germany infamous for his dictatorship. Last month, the veteran RJD leader Singh had offered his resignation from the post of state unit president but so far his resignation has not been accepted by the party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav.
On Sunday while addressing a meeting of RJD student wing, Tej Pratap categorically said Jagdanand goes everywhere and speaks like Hitler. Tej Pratap stated that when he used to visit the party office, the gates used to remain open but ever since Singh had assumed the post that tradition has been stopped. The RJD Hasanpur MLA took a jibe on Singh claiming that chair was not someone's legacy.
After the humiliation by Tej Pratap, a murmuring has started within the RJD about how long Singh will tolerate the nuisance of Lalu's elder son as he continues to embarrass the party and the leadership. Some senior leaders of the party went on to opine that it's a high time for Singh to quit from the party so that he can avoid further humiliation.
It's quite unfortunate that a leader like Singh who is also known as 'Jagda Babu' in political circles in Bihar is facing such embarrassment within the party. He is one of the founding members of the party and his humiliation by Tej Pratap is seen as a big blow to the RJD which recently celebrated silver jubilee on July 5 last month. Lalu called him Jagda bhai on the occasion of foundation day.
Singh is a strong Rajput leader and having his great influence on the voters of this community in the central region of Bihar. In fact, he was the first leader from the upper caste to serve the post of RJD state unit president. Singh is not on good terms with Lalu's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav. It's not the first time, he has made a veile attack on Singh. Even earlier, Tej Pratap had openly slammed the state president alleging that Singh does not respect party MLAs and other leaders. Tej Pratap went on to say that Singh was responsible for the ill-health of his father.
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Looking at Tej Pratap's track record, time and again he has humiliated the senior leaders of the party. His “lota” remark for senior leader late Raghuvansh Prasad Singh still haunts the party leaders. When there were rumours about Raghuvansh leaving the party, Tej Pratap had said that if some one takes out lota (read Jug) of water from sea (read RJD) it would not affect much.
In 2018, Tej Pratap had flayed the then RJD state unit president Ramchandra Purbey and posted a tweet from his official twitter handle alleging that Purbey had started ignoring the people who have worked with him. Ever since Tej Pratap has attacked Jadanand Singh, the RJD leaders have kept their mouth shut and no one is willing to speak out, unwilling to face bitter consequences.
However, several leaders of the RJD spoke to ETV Bharat on the condition of anonymity.
On the condition anonymity, an RJD MLA said, “Even Tej Pratap is well aware that he has no relevance in the party. The more he speaks against the senior leaders , he is bound to lose his credibility among party workers, leaders and also of Lalu Prasad. Tej Pratap has only one strength which is to make scathing comments against top leaders of the RJD to get grab media attention. Tej Pratap wants to send out a message that he is capable of getting a post or party ticket, but in reality, he has no such powers. All the power lies in the hands of Tejashwi ji and Lalu ji.”
Another RJD MLC requesting anonymity said, “Tej Pratap is politically non-existent in the party so time and again he issues statements to be in the limelight. Caste census was such a big issue, Tejashwi ji was busy with something so it couldn't participate but even Tej Pratap skipped the protest march on August 7. Raising questions like, whether anybody stopped him from doing so? He is seriously suffering identity crisis. The RJD leaders and workers also know that Lalu ji is also worried about his activities but not in position to take action against him.”
Even the political pundits opined that time has come for Jagdanand to retire from the party and active politics.
“If anyone commits mistake once, we can understand that he has done it out of immaturity. However, if he continuously humiliates someone that too in the public domain that is an unpardonable. I think the time has come for Jagdanand to pursue a respectable farewell. Lalu ji is no longer calling the shots and he doesn't have control over the party. It is free for all in RJD now and in this unfavourable situation Jagda Babu must bid adieu,” said Dr Sanjay Kumar, a Patna based political expert.
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