Rabri Devi backtracks on son as Bihar CM

Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi on Friday did a U-turn and said there was no vacancy for the "CM post" for her son Tejaswi Yadav, as her successor Nitish Kumar will continue in the coveted post.

A day after the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister's mother backed him for the position on the demand of her Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislators, Rabri Devi backtracked.

On Thursday, she told the media that Tejaswi Yadav would be the next Chief Minister if the people of her state wanted it.

Earlier in February, RJD chief Lalu Prasad also said that his son Tejaswi Yadav would become the Chief Minister in the future. But later he too downplayed the statement.

On Friday, Rabri Devi said: "My statement was not reported properly by the media and put differently, I never meant it."

Although after her statement, leaders of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U) did not say anything but their body language expressed that they were not comfortable with it.

Besides the Congress, the JD-U, which is the other constituent of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, described Rabri Devi's remarks as "her personal and her party's stand".

Cricketer-turned-politician Tejaswi Yadav (27) is the younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.

Last year, he said publicly that he never imagined he would become a Deputy Chief Minister so early in his political career.

He then also said: "It is too early to say who will become the next Chief Minister of Bihar. It will be decided by the people..." The next assembly polls in the state are scheduled for 2020.

The former first couple in the state also has elder son Tej Pratap Yadav as the state Health Minister.

However, the younger brother is seen as his father's political heir. He won his first election in 2015 and his party's superior performance earned him the number two spot in the Nitish Kumar-led-Grand Alliance government.

--IANS

ik/in/vt