Patna, Aug 1 (IANS) Former Bihar Cabinet Minister and elder son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, on Friday confirmed that he will contest the upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly elections from Mahua constituency in Vaishali district.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Tej Pratap said, “We won from Mahua in 2015, and I became Health Minister. I gave the constituency a medical college and carried out development works. That’s why I will contest again from there.”

Notably, in the 2020 Assembly elections, he was fielded from Hasanpur in Samastipur and secured a win. During the 2022 Grand Alliance government formation, he held the Environment, Forest and Climate Change portfolio.

Tej Pratap reacted cautiously to the controversy around the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, saying, “These issues only arise when elections come.”

On whether he supports Tejashwi Yadav’s call for boycotting elections over SIR, he distanced himself from the internal party matter.

“I am neither in the party nor the organisation. Ask Tejashwi about that. Whoever conspired against me, God is watching them. My focus now is on youth issues.”

He did not mince words while criticising CM Nitish Kumar, calling the current situation in Bihar a “Maha Jungle Raj”.

“Law and order have completely collapsed. I don’t think JDU will ever return to power in Bihar,” he said.

He also dismissed PM Narendra Modi as an ineffective leader in his view, adding, “Everyone has their style of working, but the public decides who’s good. I don’t consider him a good leader.”

Tej Pratap reiterated his loyalty to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s ideology, calling him his “biggest leader”.

Tej Pratap also clarified his visit to the Samajwadi Party (SP) office, saying: “I have a family bond with Akhilesh Yadav. I visited to meet leaders, and the media speculated unnecessarily about me joining SP.”

On Tejashwi Yadav’s potential chief ministership post-2025 elections, he extended brotherly support.

“The public will decide. He has my blessings. I want him to move forward and do well,” he said.

–IANS

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