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PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s younger son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, was on Sunday named the national working president of the party at its national executive meeting, marking a quiet transfer of power to the younger generation. The decision comes at a time when the state’s principal opposition party is battling for political survival and facing the challenge of keeping the 28-year-old outfit intact.Lalu has largely stayed away from party meetings and programmes in recent years due to age-related health complications. Against this backdrop, Tejashwi’s elevation is being seen as a decisive step towards organisational continuity and generational transition within the RJD.Soon after being named national working president, Tejashwi, who is currently the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, said he would take the BJP head-on and launch a nationwide campaign against the party in the coming days. “For this, I will tour other states and talk to leaders of other anti-BJP political parties in the country to launch a strong campaign against BJP at the national level,” he said.He also announced a united fight against the BJP-led NDA. “Hamlog milkar ladenge (We will fight unitedly),” Tejashwi said, adding that Lalu had never compromised with his ideology and that he would follow the same path. Expressing confidence in shouldering the new responsibility, he said he would undertake an extensive tour of Bihar after Holi and work towards securing national party status for the RJD.Urging party workers not to lose heart, Tejashwi said the RJD-led INDIA bloc had secured a record 1.90 crore votes in the polls. “We may have lost elections but not the courage. We will continue to move forward on our mission and will be successful,” he said. “We were ahead in 107 constituencies in postal ballot but the NDA got victory in EVM counting.” Acknowledging that the current phase was difficult, he said the party would eventually emerge victorious.
