Patna, Dec 11 (IANS) Former minister Tej Pratap Yadav’s Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) will launch a membership drive from Friday to expand its base.

Tej Pratap, who served as a two-time minister in Nitish Kumar’s government, is now preparing for a major organisational expansion.

His party’s mega membership drive is set to begin on Friday, a move that could trigger fresh turbulence in Bihar’s political landscape.

Announcing the campaign on social media, Tej Pratap said the membership drive for 2025–28 would be launched at 1 p.m. from his official residence at 26 M Stand Road.

He described it not just as a political exercise, but as an ideological movement and an expansion of the family.

Tej Pratap is determined to carve out an independent identity, separate from the RJD and the Lalu–Tejashwi camp.

The RJD’s support base has historically relied on Lalu Prasad’s social engineering and loyal voter groups.

Tej Pratap, with his long-standing visibility, distinct personality, and influence on social media, has the potential to dent that core vote bank.

The 2025 Assembly elections had already exposed the “widening rift” between the two brothers, with each fielding candidates against the other and openly campaigning in rival constituencies.

The family feud has now clearly spilt into the political arena.

Tej Pratap’s repeated assertion that he would rather die than return to the RJD suggests that reconciliation is no longer on the table.

His occasional supportive gestures toward the NDA government – followed by an increase in his security – are also seen as signals of new political alignments in the making.

If the JJD succeeds in its expansion plans, strengthening its cadre, and drawing even a small portion of Yadav votes, the RJD stands to suffer a direct and significant electoral loss.

Bihar’s political equations, once dominated by a single family, may now be heading toward an unprecedented reshuffle.

–IANS

ajk/svn