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  India   Rift in RJD over Rabri becoming acting chief

Rift in RJD over Rabri becoming acting chief

AGE CORRESPONDENT | ANAND S.T. DAS
Published : Oct 2, 2013, 11:56 am IST
Updated : Oct 2, 2013, 11:56 am IST

After a kneejerk bid to install jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi temporarily as the party’s national president, the party’s leaders on Tuesday appeared to

After a kneejerk bid to install jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi temporarily as the party’s national president, the party’s leaders on Tuesday appeared to be in two minds over the situation and mostly wanted Mr Yadav to continue in the post. While some senior leaders wanted Rabri Devi or the couple’s younger son Tejaswi Yadav, 22, to take over immediately so as to keep the party’s reins firmly with its preeminent family, she herself did a volte face on her opinion of Monday and wanted her husband to continue in the post. Although her new position received support from some top RJD leaders, a section of leaders seen close to the Yadav family reportedly began insisting that either she or Tejaswi be named as the RJD’s acting national president. “I or my sons harbour no lust for power. Lalujee will look after the party for the time being,” said Rabri Devi, 54, currently a member of Bihar’s Legislative Council, who had said on Monday that she and her sons would ably run RJD “like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are guiding the Congress”. Senior RJD leader and former Union minister Kanti Singh, known for her closeness to the family, said in Ranchi after meeting Mr Yadav: “Every leader’s son is leading their party. So why not Tejaswijee He has all the qualities present in Lalujee”. Mr Singh, along with senior RJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Ramkripal Yadav, reportedly want either Rabri Devi or Tejaswi to be nominated as the party’s acting president. Lok Sabha member and former Union minister Raguvansh Prasad Singh, when asked about Rabri Devi’s likelihood of being named the party president, said in Ranchi: “She is a former chief minister of Bihar. She is the party’s guardian”.

Location: India, Bihar, Patna