Tejashwi Yadav: Why Bihar elections can be a do-or-die innings for Lalu’s son
“I may be young but my promise is mature,” Tejashwi told TOI in an earlier interview.
As the dice begin to roll this week, the stakes could not be higher for Bihar, which will go to polls for 243 seats in two phases on November 6 and November 11. Bihar, which sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, holds the key to national politics and a win in the assembly polls will not only reshape the state’s political landscape but could also set the tone for the next Lok Sabha polls for both the RJD and the INDIA bloc of which Yadav’s party is a part.
The Bihar elections will be a litmus test for him, a chance for the 35-year-old leader to step out of his father’s long shadow and establish himself as the future of the RJD despite the party’s waning influence.
It’s do or die situation for Tejashwi
Tejashwi, once a budding cricketer who traded his gloves for the grind of politics, now faces a different kind of pitch. Yadav had appeared on the cricket field for four seasons as part of the Delhi Daredevils IPL team and in the Ranji Tournament for Jharkhand.
But his dream of playing cricket was dashed when he followed in the footsteps of his father – RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. After leaving the world of cricket, Yadav made his political breakthrough in 2013 and made his electoral debut two years later from the family stronghold of Raghopur Assembly seat in Vaishali district. A rapid rise followed; He became Deputy CM in the Nitish-led government. During this 17-month tenure he gained some credibility as minister of road construction. Even though the government fell after ‘Paltu ram’ Nitish made one of his several changes, the RJD leader had continued to take his place in Bihar politics as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, this time citing corruption allegations against Tejashwi.
Under Yadav’s leadership, the Mahagathbandhan’s performance in 2020 confirmed his place as the leading Opposition figure in the state, aided by his strategy of making employment a key poll plank. In 2020, RJD became the largest party in Bihar by winning 75 seats. Mahagathbandhan’s vote share fell behind that of NDA by just 0.03%; This underlines how close he came to power, with a razor-thin margin of roughly 12,768 votes out of 3.14 crore.
Given this near miss, expectations are sky high in 2025. His performance will not only determine his own political future but also the viability of the opposition in Bihar in the coming years.
Meanwhile, steering coalition dynamics and appealing to a broad voter base, especially youth and non-Yadav OBCs, will be critical. The election will test his ability to resist the NDA’s political machinery, carry on his father’s legacy and position himself as a pro-development alternative to Nitish Kumar. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav remains the most preferred candidate for the CM post, according to the C-Voter poll. About 35% of respondents chose it as their first choice; however, this represents a 5 percentage point decline since February and reflects a slight shift in voter sentiment.
RJD’s future depends on Yadav
In what appears to be a calculated election strategy, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has shifted its campaign focus entirely to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav while deliberately removing party patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav from the public eye.
According to a TOI report, the decision is seen as an effort by the NDA to blunt the persistent “Jungle Raj” narrative and present a revamped, youth-centric image ahead of the polls.
Lalu’s absence is notable. His image has been removed from party posters, which now feature the dominant Tejashwi, depicted as the “nayak” of Bihar, a leader who promised sweeping reforms once he came to power. However, former CM Rabri Devi was spotted on the campaign trail in Raghopur.
RJD’s campaign material carries slogans like “Tejashwi 2025–30”, “Tejashwi bharosa hai”, “Bihar ka nayak” and “Tejashwi sang milkar, badlenge Bihar”, underlining the narrative of a confident, action-oriented leader.
Tejashwi himself has also been vocal about accountability, declaring that he “will not spare even his shadow if he is found to be involved in wrongdoings.”
Party insiders told TOI that this repositioning was part of a deliberate strategy to neutralize old baggage.
A senior party functionary told the news outlet on condition of anonymity, “Lalu’s name or photographs automatically revive the ‘Jungle Raj’ image and provide fodder for the NDA to target the opposition. The momentum created by Tejashwi gets punctured when Lalu appears on RJD posters. So this time the RJD leadership has smartly planned to keep Lalu out of the poll scene or posters.”
This move also shows how seriously the RJD is taking lessons from 2020, when Tejashwi came very close to power with a margin of just 12 seats and around 11,000 votes. Determined not to repeat past mistakes, the young leader adopts a more positive tone this time.
At rallies, Tejashwi focused his message on employment and governance reforms; He promised employment to every household, ended outsourcing, and regulated contracted government employees. He focused on development and opportunities, avoiding controversies provoked by rival leaders.
“Give me a chance, I will do in just 20 months what has not been done in the last 20 years,” Tejashwi tells his supporters.
The RJD hopes that this particular focus on Tejashwi’s leadership and optimism will help the party shed its past image and reconnect with Bihar’s eager voters.
Courting voters: Tejashwi tactics
In an attempt to leave no stone unturned, Yadav appears to be trying to score a few political successes by slotting the ball between two strong fielders fielded by Bihar’s Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) team.
The Chief Minister’s face of the opposition Mahagathbandhan bloc on Tuesday (November 4) promised to increase the benefits of the two groups, with Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar already announcing plans to support them during his two-decade tenure as chief of the state government.
If elected, he has promised that his government will provide free electricity supply to farmers in Bihar for irrigation and additional support of Rs 300 per quintal for paddy and Rs 400 per quintal for wheat at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). MSP is determined annually by the Union government on the recommendations of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for selected crops in each cycle. It is usually announced before the planting of food grains that are considered profitable to farmers and therefore deserving of support. MSP acts as a government-guaranteed price to protect producers from market fluctuations.
Tejashwi also added that his government will grant public representative status to the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) representatives. His government will also consider remuneration for PACS managers. Incidentally, it was the Nitish Kumar government that deregulated the agriculture sector in 2006 and largely eliminated government control over crop procurement.
In most states, such purchases were made through the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) run by the state government. The foodgrains are then sold in mandis (wholesale markets) where farmers sell their produce directly to the Food Corporation of India or State Agriculture Corporation at MSP. Nitish Kumar replaced the APMC system with PACS, panchayat level bodies. These communities act as “middlemen” in the supply of food grains and sell the products to government agencies.
Meanwhile, on women-centric programmes, Tejashwi promised Rs 30,000 support to women for a year under the ‘Mai Bahin Maan Yojana’. This seems close to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26, under which Rs 10,000 was transferred to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women who had registered till then.
Starting with an initial financial support of Rs 10,000, the program can help women start a business by providing up to Rs 2 lakh, depending on the success of the business. Nitish Kumar, as is known, has the support of majority of women voters in the state due to the numerous welfare schemes he has announced earlier.
Initiatives like Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana, uniform and scholarship schemes for girls from backward and economically weaker families, and 50 per cent reservation for women in local institutions have helped girls and women.
Nitish Kumar has also taken initiatives in establishing women’s helplines and fast-track courts to combat domestic violence and harassment. Additionally, the pension amount for widows and elderly women has also been increased significantly from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 per month.
Despite all the big promises, Tejashwi will be aiming for a hat-trick from Raghopur, traditionally the bastion of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He will face his chief rival Satish Kumar of the BJP, who had defeated his mother Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting for the JD(U) symbol.
