PatnaSeptember 16, 2025 08:25 PM IST
First published on: Sep 16, 2025 at 08:13 PM IST
Weeks after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi-led INDIA bloc concluded the Voter Adhikar Yatra after covering 23 districts in Bihar over allegations of voter list manipulations and criticising the SIR conducted by the Election Commission, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav Tuesday embarked on the five-day Bihar Adhikar Yatra from Patna and visited Jehanabad and Nalanda.
As political tempo strikes a crescendo in the poll-bound state, Tejashwi, the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, would also cover 11 districts including Nalanda, Begusarai, Khagaria, Supaul, Madhepura, Saharsa, Samastipur, Ujiyarpur and Vaishali — under which his Assembly segment of Raghopur — falls since the idea is to traverse through those districts not touched by the Voter Adhikar Yatra.
Speaking to reporters before the yatra kicked off, Tejashwi said: “There is no confusion over the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). It will be decided at the right time. People of Bihar want a change this time… Rather, it is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who looks tired and has not been in good shape to rule the state any longer.”
Though Tejashwi underlined there was “no confusion” regarding the CM face from the Opposition’s corner, on September 15 he had announced in Kanti in Muzaffarpur district that “… Tejashwi will contest all 243 seats, whether it is Muzaffarpur, Kanti, or Bochahan”, seemingly rankled by the Congress’s stiff stance on seat-sharing and reluctance to project anyone as the Mahagathbandhan’s CM face.
On Tuesday, charting out the yatra’s theme, Tejashwi said unemployment and women safety will be the key issues. In a post on X in Hindi, Tejashwi had said Monday, “This yatra aims at raising the pitch for ensuring all-round progress of the state including ensuring employment. We want quality education, better healthcare services and establishment of new industries in the state.”
Sitting inside a bus plastered with yatra banners in Masaurhi, Patna, Tejashwi said: “I owe it to this land that has given birth to me. So long as I can ensure rights and justice for the poor, youth and women, I would not keep quiet”, thanking people for their supporting Voter Adhikar Yatra and urging them to do the same for this yatra.
As the bus moved through Jehanabad, a song “Aae, aae, RJDiye aae (it is RJD that would form government)” boomed.
Making a pitch to the youths in Nalanda’s Islampur, Tejashwi reiterated his promise of more recruitments and jobs in Bihar if the Mahagathbandhan comes to power. “This is not a yatra of Tejashwi, this is a yatra for the unemployed youths… for setting up new factories. It is a yatra for making a new Bihar which should be free of crime and corruption,” said Tejashwi.
He alleged that though Nitish is the CM, the BJP “has hijacked him completely and the government is being run from Delhi”. “It is no longer the same Nitish Kumar.”
On the yatra’s significance for the party, an RJD leader said, “We needed a yatra to further reassert our position as a leading political force. Some people are trying to give the impression that the Congress had scored over us during the recent Voter Adhikar Yatra. While there is nothing wrong in the Congress growing along with us, we are separate parties.”
A Bihar Congress leader, however, said: “There is nothing wrong in RJD taking out its own yatra. It is true that as a party, we were looking to have a bigger appeal during the Voter Adhikar Yatra. But the RJD has a different votebase and we have to complement each other.”