Tejashwi Yadav was seen in Haryana with his brother-in-law Chiranjeev Rao file his nomination.
Highlights
- Tejashwi Yadav has stayed away from Patna despite the floods in the state
- He was seen campaigning for his brother-in-law in Haryana
- He had skipped his home state during thee floods in July
The waterlogging in Patna, caused by monsoon rains, has become a huge embarrassment not just for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, but the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD as well.
While Nitish Kumar has been under fire for the government's handling of the crisis and Sushil Modi was seen being rescued from his ancestral home on a boat in unflattering television images, the RJD too has been on the defensive.
Tejashwi Yadav, son of jailed RJD chief Lalu Yadav and leader of the opposition, has once again been missing in action.
While Tejashwi Yadav has been nipping at the government with tweets since heavy rain started hammering Patna over the weekend, his own party men say that by staying away from the city and not standing with the affected families, he missed yet another opportunity to lead from the front.
On Thursday, the 29-year-old was spotted in Haryana's Rewari, where he had gone to accompany his brother-in-law Chiranjeevi Rao as he filed his nomination as a Congress candidate for the state elections later this month. Chiranjeevi Rao is the husband of Tejaswhi Yadav's sister.
While he was nowhere near Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav once again tweeted, accusing the Nitish Kumar government of not doing enough for Patna.
However, his own supporters say the social media attacks are too little and too late. "This kind of arrogant attitude has not only harmed the party but also his own image as leader of opposition," a party source said.
This is not the first time that Tejashwi Yadav decided to skip his home state and stay away. During the floods in July, the state assembly session and the acute encephalitis deaths in June, he was missing in action.
He surfaced later, saying that he was undergoing treatment in Delhi during his two-month break from politics in Bihar following a disastrous performance for the RJD in Lok Sabha elections this year.