Lok Sabha elections: Tejashwi Yadav again skips Rahul Gandhi's rally

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav are yet to share the stage at an election rally in Bihar during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi (L) with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. File Photo

PATNA: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav are yet to share the stage at an election rally in Bihar during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. On Saturday, Gandhi addressed a poll rally in Supaul which was also attended by sitting party MP Ranjeet Ranjan, AICC spokesman in-charge for the state Shaktisinh Gohil and BPCC president Madan Mohan Jha, besides alliance partners like Upendra Kushwaha, who heads the RLSP and HAM founding president, Jitan Ram Manjhi. But Tejashwi Yadav, whose non-appearance at rallies held by Gandhi in Bihar during the general elections has been noted by common people and political commentators alike, was conspicuous by his absence. Quoting its sources, ANI said there's a kind of ‘bitterness’ between the two leaders over the issue of seat sharing in Bihar and Jharkhand as well. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad wanted to contest from Madhubani Lok Sabha seat, but the seat went to Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahni. After Sahni, a close confidant of Yadav, insisted to get Madhubani seat, Ahmed chose to resign from the Congress and decided to contest the poll as an independent candidate. VIP is an ally of grand alliance in Bihar, but is contesting the poll on the symbol of RJD. The tussle over Chatra seat in Jharkhand, and Supaul and Madhepura seats in Bihar has further added to the woes of the Mahagathbandhan. On the contrary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared the stage often with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan during campaigning in the state. BJP state president Nityanand Rai stated that while Rahul Gandhi was attending a rally in Supaul, Tejashwi Yadav was also campaigning nearby. “Then why two leaders were not campaigning together,” he asked. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi too questioned the equation among the members of grand alliance in the state. Yadav has, however, been asserting that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his father Lalu Prasad used to hold rallies separately in the 2015 assembly polls despite having an alliance and went on to win the elections hands down belying skeptics. The RJD has put up a rebel candidate against Congress' sitting MP Ranjeet Ranjan at Supaul in protest against her husband Pappu Yadav entering the fray from adjoining Madhepura from where the party has fielded veteran socialist Sharad Yadav. (With inputs from agencies)