As Navratri sparks celebration across India, Bihar’s political circles are witnessing their own version of drama. Not with music and dance, but with unfollows, social media posts, and ostensibly visible cracks within the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) first family.
According to party insiders, a growing discontent has emerged within the Yadav household over the increasing prominence of Sanjay Yadav, the political advisor to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, leader of the opposition in Bihar and Lalu Prasad’s son.
The friction reportedly became public after Rohini Acharya, Lalu Prasad’s second daughter, unfollowed both Tejashwi and Sanjay Yadav on X, formerly Twitter.
The tipping point, news reports cited insiders as saying, was Rohini’s repost of a critical message targeting Sanjay Yadav’s high visibility during Tejashwi’s recent “Bihar Adhikar Yatra”, a five-day campaign that concluded last week.
The criticism came with a photograph of Sanjay seated prominently in the front seat of the campaign bus, a position many in the party consider symbolically reserved for either Lalu Prasad or Tejashwi himself.
The post, originally by a user named Alok Kumar, had said that the front seat was always meant for top leadership and should remain vacant in their absence. It suggested that some individuals saw themselves as more important than the actual leaders and added that the people of Bihar had only ever accepted Lalu or Tejashwi in that position.
It went on to say that those indulging in sycophancy may view someone else as a strategist, advisor, or even saviour but that view was not shared by loyal supporters.
Party insiders, reports said, claimed she faced criticism from the family for what was viewed as an indirect dig at Sanjay Yadav. She was reportedly under pressure to contain the fallout.
To manage the optics and perhaps defuse tensions, the RJD leadership arranged for Dalit leaders Shiv Chandra Ram and Rekha Paswan to occupy the front seat during the remaining stretch of the yatra. Rohini then shared images from the campaign, writing on X that it was encouraging to see members from socially deprived communities seated at the front. She added that this aligned with Lalu Prasad’s core mission of social and economic justice, which is to uplift those at the bottom of the social pyramid.
Rohini has a medical degree like her elder sister Misa Bharati. She gained national attention in 2022 when she donated a kidney to Lalu Prasad. The surgery took place in Singapore, and on his return to Patna, Lalu had praised her publicly. She later contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Saran but narrowly lost to BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a former Union Minister.
Amid rising online trolling over her alleged political ambitions, she responded by posting a 2022 video of herself being wheeled into surgery in Singapore, It’s a clear reminder of her past sacrifices. Soon after, she unfollowed several accounts, including Lalu and Tejashwi. As of now, she follows only three on X: her husband Samaresh Singh, poet Rahat Indori, and a newspaper.
She took to X again yesterday, calling the rumours about her baseless. She said they were part of a smear campaign driven by trolls, paid media, and those trying to hijack the party. She asserted she had no political ambitions and that she never had, doesn’t have, and never will. She added that she didn’t want to contest elections, back any candidate, or seek a Rajya Sabha seat. She has also denied any rivalry within the family.
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