Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | RJD supremo Lalu gives away RJD ticket; stops after Tejashwi's intervention

Tejashwi reportedly told his father that photographs and video clips of party candidates with the symbol could not go down well with alliance partners, with whom a deal is yet to be struck

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad gave away the party ticket to several candidates until his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, early on Tuesday, pointed out that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, helmed in Bihar by the RJD, was yet to announce a seat-sharing formula for the Assembly election formally.

A stampede-like situation was witnessed on Monday evening outside 10, Circular Road, the bungalow allotted to the RJD supremo's wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, when the couple returned from Delhi, where they had appeared before a court.

As the air remained thick with anticipation, aspirants, who apparently received phone calls from the party, began pouring in, only to emerge minutes later with the party symbol in their hands and a broad smile on their faces.

However, Tejashwi, who returned from Delhi a few hours after his parents did, was said to have been upset with the development.

According to RJD sources, he told his father that photographs and video clips of party candidates with the symbol could not go down well with alliance partners, with whom a deal was yet to be struck, reported PTI.

Hence, distribution of party symbols was stopped and, well past midnight, those who had got them were asked to return the ticket on the grounds of "technical issues".

The sources said that a formal announcement of candidates would be made "latest by this evening" since Tejashwi was himself likely to file his nomination papers from Raghopur on Wednesday.

Prominent among those who got the RJD ticket were Sunil Singh (Parbatta), who quit Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) last week, and Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo, a several-term former MLA from Matihani, who had won the seat twice for the party headed by the Chief Minister.

Several incumbent RJD MLAs like Bhai Virendra, Chandrashekhar Yadav (Madhepura) and Israil Mansuri (Kanti) had also come out of the party supremo's house, waving the party symbol.

The scene was reminiscent of last year's Lok Sabha elections, when the RJD supremo had distributed a number of party ticket without waiting for a nod from the alliance partners, who eventually fell in line.

Besides the Congress, the RJD has among its allies three Left parties and former State Minister Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party. A truck is expected with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's JMM and RLJP of former Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

(With agency inputs)