When the RJD won the most seats 75 in the hotly contested 2020 assembly elections, Tejashwi Yadav had guided the party to an outstanding showing.
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has finally returned to center stage as the kingmaker and deputy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after a dream debut seven years ago when he was sworn in as deputy chief minister after being elected MLA for the first time was followed by a dip in his political fortunes.
Believing many who believed he would falter since Mr. Yadav was in office, the 32-year-old younger son of the charismatic Lalu Yadav led the party to an amazing result in the hotly contested 2020 assembly elections when it won the greatest number of 75 seats, belying those who thought he will flounder since Mr. Yadav was in jail and the heir apparent lacked acumen.
Tejashwi Yadav was making waves as a tenacious leader of the opposition, taking on the administration of his father's archrival on the assembly floor when it was in session, as well as on the streets, before Chief Minister Kumar decided to choose him as his deputy for a second time.
Prior to the sudden realignment, he led a sizable "pratirodh" (opposition) march on Sunday against the NDA administration at the center, sending a strong message that the opposition in the state was ready for a fight.
He was born on November 9, 1989, and is the youngest of all but nine siblings. His father clearly favored him and seemed to see political potential in him at a young age.
The RJD heir apparent married his Chandigarh-based acquaintance Rachel Iris, who has now changed her name to "Rajshree," and is pampered by seven older and one younger sister as well as a volatile older brother named Tej Pratap Yadav.
Mr. Yadav, who was mocked by his opponents for having no formal education, had given up on his studies after failing Class 9 at DPS, RK Puram. He has, however, proven that he has the capacity to read a situation and make the most of it.
Early in life, Mr. Yadav realized that studying was not for him, and when the much-needed big break failed to materialize, he made the decision to let go of his cricketing ambitions despite the fact that, by all accounts, he was a capable all-rounder.
Only a few years after "retiring" from cricket, in 2015, he entered politics at the young age of 25. Thanks to a powerful, albeit transient coalition formed by Mr. Kumar and Lalu Yadav, two bitter rivals, the new career came as the ideal pitch to bat on as he easily won the assembly election from Raghopur.
Tejashwi Yadav was not just his father's favorite, but he also projected maturity far beyond his years, which undoubtedly contributed to his success.
As luck would have it, when Mr. Yadav was still a teenager, his name came up in a money laundering case involving shady land deals that involved his father's time as the railway minister in the UPA-1 government.
As a result of the intense criticism from the opposition, the JD(U) leader severed relations with the RJD and ultimately made a quick return to the NDA, mindful of his reputation for integrity in public life.
Mr. Yadav accepted the abrupt loss of authority and tried to maintain the RJD party while his father was imprisoned as a result of convictions in numerous cases including fodder scams.
After the Lok Sabha elections, in which the opposition coalition lost 39 of the 40 seats to the NDA and the RJD won none, concerns were expressed regarding his ability to lead the party and the Grand Alliance.
The JD(U)-BJP coalition, which was in power at the time, mocked him as a "poor prepared student frightened of facing exams” when he demanded that the assembly elections be deferred in view of the global pandemic.
But as soon as the polling schedule was revealed, everyone could see the fire burning within of him. The CPI(ML), which has been vehemently opposed to the RJD, was one of Mr. Yadav's friends. This is especially true since former JNU president Chandrashekhar was fatally shot in the early 1990s, allegedly by the henchmen of the local MP Mohd. Shahabuddin.
Some may argue that by humbly accepting a deputy's position rather than holding out till the Chief Minister ship would be up for grabs, he has shortchanged himself.
However, his supporters will be jubilant in their conviction that he has returned it to the BJP, which had seized it from the RJD through a "backdoor entry" five years prior.
