A day after “disowning her family and quitting politics”, RJD founder Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya on Sunday stepped up her attack, accusing members of her younger brother Tejashwi Yadav’s core team of humiliating her by “raising slippers at her”.
“I was abused and told I am dirty, that I got my father’s kidney transplanted and took crores of rupees for it, and that I got the dirty kidney transplanted after buying the Saran ticket. I would like to tell all the daughters and sisters, especially married women, that if there’s a son or brother in your parental home, don’t even think about saving your father. Instead, tell your brother or son to donate their kidney or get it done from their friend … I committed a great sin by not thinking about my family, my three children, and didn’t even take permission from my husband or in-laws while donating the kidney. I did it to save my father, my God, and today it’s being called dirty. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t let a daughter like Rohini be born in any home. Yesterday, a daughter, a sister, a married woman, and a mother was insulted, abused, and almost beaten. I didn’t compromise on my self-respect and didn’t give up on the truth. That’s why I had to face this humiliation,” she said in a series of posts on X on Sunday.
While leaving her parents’ 10, Circular Road residence in Patna on Sunday, Rohini said she had “no family”, blaming Tejashwi’s political advisor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav and Rameez Neyaz Khan for her decision to quit politics.
The incident also prompted a reaction from her brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who was ousted from the party in May. “I tolerated what happened to me. But the insult inflicted on my sister is unbearable under any circumstance,” Tej Pratap told reporters on Sunday.
Fissures between the siblings first emerged after Rohini accused Tejashwi of “overlooking her” in ticket distribution for the Assembly segments falling under the Saran Lok Sabha seat, the constituency from which she lost in last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Here is a look at Tejashwi’s core team, against whom Rohini has levelled allegations.
Sanjay Yadav
The Rajya Sabha MP, who has come under fire from Rohini and Tej Pratap, has been accused by several RJD workers of “misleading” Tejashwi.
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A Haryana resident, Sanjay Yadav has known Tejashwi since the latter’s IPL days and was formally introduced to him by Akhilesh.
“It was the idea of Abhimanyu (Monu) Yadav, BJP Danapur MLA Ram Kripal Yadav’s idea, to make Sanjay Yadav a part of Tejashwi’s media management team. Sanjay Yadav established himself as a key advisor to Tejashwi after Ram Kripal Yadav quit the RJD and joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,” an RJD leader said.
Another RJD leader said this time Sanjay Yadav was the “main channel” between Tejashwi and ticket aspirants while Lalu played an advisory role. “This wielding of too much power by Sanjay Yadav within the family and party did not go down well with Rohini, who seemingly took Tejashwi’s silence over misbehaviour as his approval,” the leader added.
Rameez Neyaz Khan
A resident of Uttar Pradesh and the son-in-law of former two-time Balrampur MP Rizwan Zaheer, Rameez has known Tejashwi since their cricketing days. The duo practised as well as played domestic cricket together.
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After Tejashwi established himself in politics in 2015, Rameez started frequenting Patna and has been a member of the RJD leader’s social media team since 2018.
Rameez, along with his wife Zeba and father-in-law, is an accused in the murder of Tulsipur Nagar Panchayat chairman Firoz Pappu. His wife has dabbled in politics, contesting the Tulsipur Assembly elections in 2017 and 2022 as Congress candidate and Independent, respectively.
Seen accompanying Tejashwi in the helicopter as he criss-crossed the state for campaigning and with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav during his recent Bihar tour, Rameez is next only to Sanjay Yadav in the RJD leader’s team.
“Though Rameez’s main job is to oversee Tejashwi’s social media publicity, of late he has started doubling as his political manager. If anyone wants to get through to Tejashwi, he and Sanjay Yadav are the two main people. They also had a lot of say in ticket distribution for the Assembly polls,” said an RJD source.
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The source went on to add that Rohini named Rameez and Sanjay Yadav as she felt the duo played a key part in distancing her from her family. “She was stopped by them from becoming a stakeholder in Saran politics and ensured Tejashwi remained in full control of ticket distribution. Even Lalu’s role was perfunctory. Tej Pratap also fell out with the family due to Tejashwi’s core team,” the source said.
Rohini’s accusations have triggered a reaction from Pappu’s brother, Afroz. “I learnt about what Rohini didi said. What is a murder accused doing in Tejashwi’s team? It is good that the NDA won or ‘jungle raj’ would have returned with people like Rameez around Tejashwi,” he said in a video message.
Sunil Singh, Engineer Sunil, and Adnan
Sunil Singh, a long-time loyalist of the Lalu family, is an RJD MLC while Engineer Sunil and Mohammed Adnan are party leaders from Raghopur, Tejashwi’s constituency.
The two Sunils are often seen as a bridge between Tejashwi and the second-rung leadership of the RJD.
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Adnan’s primary role is to consult with Sanjay Yadav and fix Tejashwi’s appointments. He is also responsible for social media views and likes, and pushing a positive narrative about the leader and the party in the digital space.
Shakti Singh Yadav
One of the party’s top spokespersons, Shakti Singh Yadav or Atri Muni, lost the recent election from the Hilsa Assembly seat. Following the exit of Jagdanand Singh as RJD state president, Muni directly took orders from Tejashwi.
He sprung into the limelight recently after reportedly interrupting Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha’s interview just ahead of the polls. “He was close to Lalu and his job is to ensure party spokespersons do not exceed their brief. He is a parallel political channel within the party in the somewhat outer orbit of Tejashwi’s core team,” a party leader said.
Another party functionary said RJD leaders were “not supposed to speak on the RJD’s first family as their words could be misinterpreted”. “But it is true that Sanjay Yadav has invited the ire of many and is often seen as the main villain for the RJD’s decimation in the polls,” he added.