RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is likely to hold a meeting with the newly elected MLAs of his party on Monday to discuss the future course of action for the party following its drubbing in the recent Bihar assembly elections, sources said.
They said he will "discuss the poor performance of the INDIA bloc in the 2025 Bihar polls" and decide on the "future course of action for the party" after the formation of the new NDA government.
The INDIA bloc faced a crushing defeat at the hands of the NDA in the Bihar polls, which managed to secure 202 seats in the 243-member assembly.
The RJD, which won merely 25 of the 143 seats it contested, is also witnessing a family feud in the residence of its founder Lalu Prasad.
Claiming that she was "cursed at" for donating a "dirty kidney" to her father Lalu Prasad in exchange for money and a party ticket, Rohini Acharya on Sunday said "she has been made an orphan", and advised all married women to refrain from saving "your God-like father if he has a son".
In an emotional outburst, 47-year-old Acharya, in a series of posts on X, said that "may no household give birth to a girl with a fate like that of Rohini".
The posts came a day after her announcement that she was quitting the party and disowning her family, while putting the blame for the RJD's debacle in the recent Bihar polls on her brother Tejashwi Yadav's close aides – RJD's MP Sanjay Yadav, who hails from Haryana, and Rameez, who is from a political family in Uttar Pradesh.
NDA leaders on Monday condemned RJD's Tejashwi Yadav for "disrespecting the female members" of his family, and questioned the credibility of his claims to build a better Bihar.
Speaking to reporters here, Bihar JD(U) chief Umesh Kushwaha said, "This is a family matter and I wish they could live united. But you see, recently, the daughter-in-law of that family came out in public as well. If a person wants to rule Bihar but cannot maintain the respect of female members of his family, it is before the people to judge." He was ostensibly referring to Aishwarya Rai, the estranged wife of Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap, who accused the Yadav family of inflicting physical and emotional abuse on her.
BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal said, "This disrespect of a daughter is very unfortunate. If the daughter of Lalu Yadav has to come on the streets and speak about this, I don't think he will tolerate this. If Lalu Yadav or Rohini Acharya are disrespected, even people will not tolerate it." "If people know Tejashwi's name today, it is because of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi," he added.
Lalu Prasad and other big whips of the party are tight-lipped about the issue.
While the mood in the NDA bloc is upbeat after the Bihar poll results, the official residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi wore a deserted look on Monday.
Usually buzzing with political activity, her residence was bereft of party workers and supporters amid the party being caught in the double imbroglio of electoral defeat and family tensions.
After Rohini Acharya's exit, a video of three other daughters of Lalu Prasad -- Rajlakshmi, Ragini and Chanda -- departing Patna airport to take a flight to Delhi went viral on social media. None of the three daughters spoke to the media.