Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav is campaigning for the Bihar Assembly election campaign, after he was declared as the chief ministerial candidate by the opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). When Mint asked Tejasvi about the possibility of a Muslim deputy chief minister he did not rule out saying it can be from any community.
“We are not ruling out that possibility. Let’s wait and watch. It can be from any community,” he told Mint.
Bihar Election 2025
Bihar’s elections will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11, with results scheduled for November 14. The opposition Grand Alliance, consisting of seven parties including the RJD and the Congress, is challenging the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the Mint report, Yadav claimed that the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government has lost public trust and said the state is ready for a change. He dismissed suggestions of confusion over his candidacy, asserting that the Mahagathbandhan is united, unlike the NDA, which has yet to announce its CM face.
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“People of Bihar are fed up with the NDA, and they want to see a change in government. This time, we have to build a new Viksit Bihar and eradicate unemployment and migration. We are fairly certain that people will choose the Mahagathbandhan this time,” Yadav told Mint.
He added, “There is a time and a place for everything. In fact, we are ahead of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). They have not announced the name of any CM candidate. Who will be their CM’s face? Amit Shah stated that MLAs will decide on the CM’s face after the results are announced. We are clear, and there is no confusion in the alliance. And let me tell you, people of Bihar have no confusion either.”
Deputy CM Nomination Sparks BJP Criticism
The Mahagathbandhan recently announced Mukesh Sahani, leader of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), as its deputy chief ministerial candidate. The BJP has criticized the choice, raising concerns over Muslim representation in the opposition alliance.
Responding to this, Yadav accused the BJP of being “scared” and exposing its “hatred” toward Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs). He questioned why Union Home Minister Amit Shah was frustrated over the selection of an EBC leader as Bihar’s deputy CM candidate and accused BJP leaders of hypocrisy for questioning minority representation within the Mahagathbandhan.
BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain dismissed the alliance’s decision as a “mahabhool” (mega blunder), claiming it alienates the alliance’s M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) vote base. He argued that their M-Y equation now stands for “Mukesh Sahani–Tejashwi Yadav.”
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
