Patna:
RJD legislators claimed on Thursday that Tejashwi Yadav had offered to resign as the leader of the legislative party, in wake of the drubbing it received in the Lok Sabha polls, but the bid was vociferously turned down by party MLAs.
After a meeting of the RJD legislative party, MLAs Bhai Virendra, Ejya Yadav, Lalit Yadav and Shakti Yadav said all legislators of the party are standing unitedly behind Yadav.
“Tejashwi Yadav is our leader. His offer was unanimously rejected and he was told that if he insisted, all legislators will resign from their memberships as well,” the MLAs said.
They, however, did not specify as to whether Yadav offered to resign on Thursday, when the RJD heir-apparent made his first appearance in the monsoon session of the state assembly, which has been underway since June 28.
“Our stand is why should Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of the Opposition, resign. It is the legislators of the ruling NDA in the state who should resign taking moral responsibility for the outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), which has claimed the lives of over 100 children,” they said.
When Yadav was asked about his resignation, he said “You (media persons) must be knowing it… Why are you (media) wasting your time on rumours?”
He had also refused to comment on Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s resignation.
Yadav has been drawing flak from the ruling coalition for being away from Bihar ever since the Lok Sabha poll results were announced, wherein his party put up its worst-ever performance, drawing a blank despite having ruled the state for more than a decade and currently having the largest number of MLAs.
The young leader has been functioning as the de facto leader of his party following the absence of his ailing father, lodged in a Ranchi hospital while serving sentences in the fodder scam cases.
Following the Lok Sabha debacle, the RJD stares at an uphill task in the assembly polls due next year. Running feud among Prasad’s children — Tejashwi, his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav and eldest daughter Misa Bharti — has also queered the pitch for the party, which is controlled by his family.
