"Not Only Assam": In Poll Season, Tejashwi Yadav Plans To Cast A Wide Net

Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) may have lost the Bihar Assembly polls of October-November 2020 to the NDA, but not before giving incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a minor scare. He is now carrying the battle scars of that contest over to Assam, which is set to vote in March-April. And the northeastern state may only be the beginning if his plans for the party are anything to go by.

The young leader has been camped in Guwahati since last evening when the poll panel announced the voting schedule. The RJD, sources say, is likely to contest in Assam and Mr Yadav is looking for allies. Like in Bihar, there is a six-party Mahagatbandhan in this state, too, led by the Congress. Speculation is rife that the RJD will join it even though it has no base in Assam.

"In Assam there is a huge Hindi-speaking community particularly from Bihar, UP, and migrants. They make about 5 per cent of the total voters of Assam," Mr Yadav said. "Even in the tea estates, there is a sizable Hindi-speaking community."

The Congress is allied with the RJD nationally and has always maintained good relations since the days of Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Bihar-based party's founder. He met the Congress leadership last evening. They may meet again today.

"We have a natural alliance with the Congress. We have spoken to them over the alliance," he said today. If Congress sources are to be believed, the huge Bhojpuri vote bank in certain pockets of Assam could use Mr Yadav as a star campaigner. Traditionally, these voters have swayed towards the BJP.

Mr Yadav has also maintained ties with the Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF) led by Hagrama Mohilary, the BJP's former partner. In the last Bodoland polls held towards the end of 2020, the BJP dumped it and formed a post-poll alliance with the United People's Party Liberal, ousting Hagrama out of power from Bodoland Territorial Council.

On February 10, Mr Yadav had attended the Bodoland Accord Day celebrations as chief guest on Mr Hagrama's invite.

The RJD chief is also meeting Badruddin Ajmal of the All India United Democratic Front at 12 noon today. His meeting with the Congress today is likely to include Mr Ajmal, sources said.

"We have spoken to Ajmal and we are trying to form an alliance and we might be part of the grand alliance here," Mr Yadav said today.

The idea, sources said, was to talk to all the anti-CAA parties. The Centre's Citizenship Amendment Act had sparked a furore across the state sections of which view the new legislation as legitimising decades of illegal immigration suffered by Assam.

Meanwhile, some media reports said RJD's arch rival from Bihar, the Janata Dal United, too, may contest the Assam polls this time. The chances, however, are that it will go solo.

Of the 126 seats in the Assam assembly, 47 will go to polls on March 27 in the first phase, 39 on April 1, and 40 on April 6. Counting for all the three phases will take place on May 2. The ruling BJP is looking to retain power even as the opposition Congress-led combine eyes change.

However, the RJD is not restricting itself. "Not only Assam, we will go to Bengal, Kerala, and other states," Mr Yadav said today. "Our party used to be a national party, now we want to expand it."

He said he would travel to these poll-bound states, too, to campaign against the BJP and its allies.