Patna: RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti has publicly acknowledged that there are differences between her brothers Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, confirming speculations of a simmering family feud.
A video of the Rajya Sabha MP talking to her party workers in Bihar’s Maner about the issues between the brothers has since gone viral.
Talking about the infighting in the party, Misa said, “Ignore the little things and focus on booth management instead in the upcoming elections.”
As she urged her party workers to remain united, she said: “Even our five fingers are not the same. Similarly, there are differences between the brothers in my family, considering that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is a huge family.”
Last year, Lalu had announced Tejashwi as his official successor and named him the chief ministerial nominee in a grand rally, while Tej Pratap declared himself his brother’s ‘sarathi’ (charioteer).
However, the relationship between the two began to sour as Tej Pratap repeatedly attacked senior party leaders and warned them against ignoring the youth wing.
In a press conference in June this year, Tej Pratap asserted that sometimes he felt ‘ignored and sidelined in the party’. Just a month later, he accused some of his party members of being manipulated by the BJP and the RSS.
“People do not want to see me rising in the party fold but till the time my father is alive, no one else can take big decisions,” he said.
Concerned with the growing feud, an ailing Prasad on September 29 called Tejashwi to his cell and reportedly discussed the issues with him for about an hour.
Despite the apparent conflicts with Tejashwi, Tej Pratap has played down the differences.
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