After Tejashwi-Tej Pratap spat, infighting among RJD old guard

Lalu Prasad's RJD, which has reeled under a cold war between his two sons for quite some time, was on Wednesday embarrassed by a spat among its old guard.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, the party's outspoken national vice-president, launched a veiled attack on the newly appointed state president Jagadanand Singh, alleging that the party office here almost resembled a "government office".

Both leaders have been associated with the RJD since its inception in 1997.

"Discipline ought to be self-enforced and not imposed from outside. It needs to be appreciated that our party workers are not our paid employees.

"We must try not to make the party office resemble a government office," the RJD vice-president told reporters here in an apparent reference to a recent restriction barring entry of visitors to the party state chief's chamber without permit.

He, however, did not elaborate as to what had got his goat, but RJD sources said he had been unhappy with the style of functioning of Jagadanand Singh - a man of few words, known to be a stickler for propriety.

The sources also said on condition of anonymity that Jagadanand Singh's appointment, last month, as the state unit president has hogged limelight by virtue of his being the first upper caste leader to hold the post.

This has not gone well with former minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh - who is also a Rajput like Jagadanand Singh and considered by many as the party's most well-known face from the influential community.

When asked about the former Union minister's outbursts, the state RJD chief deftly replied, "I am just heading the state unit. He, as national vice-president, holds an office higher than mine. I will consult him and try to remove shortcomings in my working that I may not be aware of."
Jagadanand, however, added, "The re-election of Lalu Prasad as the national president took place at the party office yesterday. My impression is that it went off fine. Nobody was unhappy with the state of affairs. Moreover, our party workers are a bold and assertive lot, they are unlikely to feel slighted over any trifle."