Tejashwi Yadav/FILE
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said he won't be surprised if RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav becomes the chief minister of Bihar. The Grand Alliance, spearheaded by the RJD and with the Congress and Left parties as its members, has already announced Tejashwi as its CM candidate.
"A young man without any support, whose family members are in jail and CBI, IT Department is behind him, is challenging everyone in a state like Bihar. I won't be surprised if Tejashwi Yadav becomes Bihar CM tomorrow," Raut told news agency ANI.
The 31-year-old has been hopping from one region to another daily to drum up support for the Grand Alliance. Tejashwi is up against an experienced BJP rival in Raghopur constituency. The seat is a Yadav-dominated constituency across river Ganga which Lalu Prasad had won in 1995, 2000 and his wife Rabri Devi in 2005.
Tejashwi's main rival now, the BJP's Satish Kumar, had emerged a giant killer, defeating Rabri Devi in 2010 state election.
Kumar, however, had lost to Tejashwi in 2015, when Tejashwi was a nominee of an alliance comprising his RJD, the JD (U) and the Congress, while the BJP had gone solo.
The equation has changed since. The JDU is back with the BJP and the RJD is in an alliance with the Congress and the Left parties.
Tejashwi and Satish Kumar are among 12 candidates in the fray from Raghopur seat in the 2020 Bihar polls.
The Chirag Paswan-headed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has fielded Rakesh Roshan to make the contest triangular.
While, Satish is canvassing across the constituency daily, Tejashwi has not been able to devote much time because he is busy criss-crossing the state as an RJD star campaigner in the absence of his father Lalu Prasad, who is serving a jail term in fodder scam cases.
(With PTI inputs)
