THE RJD Nationwide Govt assembly ended with an enchantment to events to come back collectively in opposition to the BJP, and to its supporters to succeed in out to different caste teams. Nevertheless, on this unity body, one discordant scene stood out: the tantrum thrown by Lalu Prasad’s elder son and enfant horrible Tej Pratap Yadav.
It might all have been over a seat on the dais. The Bihar Minister for Atmosphere and Forests, who has ceded the centrestage to youthful brother Tejashwi, if reluctantly, anticipated to a minimum of be seated in a delight of place on the Nationwide Govt.
In that, one other RJD chief who’s out of favour, and maybe looking for to redeem himself with the brand new get together dispensation led by Tejashwi, may need overreached himself. Shyam Rajak, who dealt with the preparations of the Nationwide Govt, didn’t place Tej Pratap on both facet of Lalu Prasad, not even subsequent to senior chief Sharad Yadav, occupying a type of strategic chairs himself.
Not scheduled to talk, Tej Pratap sought “two minutes” from father Lalu to talk, after which let it free on Rajak, calling the get together nationwide basic secretary, amongst different issues, “an RSS agent”. Tej additionally stated that his private assistant who had referred to as up Rajak to hunt minutes of the Nationwide Govt assembly, had been subjected to alternative abuses.
An audio launched by Tej had purportedly Rajak saying: “Throughout my days as a minister, I used to straight name fellow ministers. However this (expletive used) will get his PA to talk to me.”
Each Rajak and Tej walked out of the Nationwide Govt quickly after. Rajak tried to defend himself saying he was merely “a Dalit who can not elevate voice in opposition to raja log (kings)”. The day ended with information that Rajak had taken in poor health and was admitted to a Delhi hospital.
For Rajak, 68, it was one other inglorious flip in a profession that, at its top, noticed him so near Lalu that he and Ram Kripal Yadav (now Pataliputra MP) had been known as the RJD supremo’s Ram and Shyam. A product of the JP Motion, like Lalu and a lot of the cream of Bihar leaders, Rajak was as soon as a member of the Lok Dal after which one in all Janata Social gathering president and former prime minister Chandra Shekhar’s aides.
Belonging to the washermen SC neighborhood, Rajak’s first electoral success got here in 1995 when he gained the Phulwari Sharif Meeting seat on the Janata Dal ticket. He was an Vitality Minister within the Rabri Devi authorities. He retained his Meeting seat in 2000, February 2005 and November 2005 polls as an RJD nominee.
In 2009, Rajak crossed over to the JD(U) and gained his seat in each the 2010 and 2015 polls. Nitish Kumar made him Meals and Client Safety Minister, after which Business Minister. Round 2019, Rajak’s relations with Nitish soured, and in 2020, he returned to the RJD. By then, the RJD that Rajak had identified was modified, with Tejashwi within the saddle.
Rajak was not fielded within the 2020 Meeting polls, and whereas he technically holds a senior place of nationwide basic secretary, he now not instructions a lot affect within the get together.
RJD insiders say the Nationwide Govt, the primary by the get together after returning to energy in Bihar and after making its nationwide ambitions identified together with new ally JD(U), was an opportunity for Rajak to redeem himself. As a substitute, he let the limelight on the primary day be stolen by the ungainly spat with Tej Pratap.
The assembly had anyway began on a bitter notice for the RJD, with Bihar president Jagdanand Singh staying away. Singh is claimed to be sulking over son Sudhakar Singh having needed to resign as minister for his remarks in opposition to the Nitish Kumar authorities.
Social gathering leaders are additionally stunned that Rajak didn’t present extra tact in the direction of Tej, figuring out his mercurial nature and that Tej was already stung by the truth that in his second time period in energy, he had been relegated to the low-profile Atmosphere and Forests Ministry.
The road-up on the dais on the stage that day went like this: Tejashwi sitting to the left of Lalu, adopted by senior leaders Ram Chandra Purve and Abdul Bari Siddiqui. On Lalu’s proper sat Sharad Yadav, adopted by Rajak.
The subsequent day of the two-day Nationwide Govt, Rajak, seemingly recovered from his hospital stint, was again on the RJD dais. This time, he sat proper in a nook. Tej Pratap didn’t present up.