Ahead of the opposition unity meeting scheduled in Patna on June 12, RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, stayed away from an event organised by the Kumhar Samaj Samanvay Samiti here on Wednesday.
The reason is believed to be Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was also invited for the event by the organisers.
Sources claimed that Tejashwi Yadav stayed away from the event only because of Kanhaiya Kumar.
The organisers, who had invited Tejashwi Yadav as the chief guest for the event, waited for long besides trying to contact the RJD leader's office repeatedly, but no response came from there.
The event finally started after state minister Ashok Chaudhary and Mohammad Israil Mansoori lit the lamp along with Kanhaiya Kumar.
When Kanhaiya Kumar was asked during the event why Tejashwi Yadav did not come for the programme, he didn't give a clear reply and said: "The chairman of the event is saying something, please respect his speech. I want to see the people who have come here for the event. I request you (the media) to give me some space to watch them."
On his part, Ashok Chaudhary said: "It may be that the invitation was sent by the organisers, but they did not confirm with him. The Deputy CM was saying that he has a lot of work to complete."
However, sources said that Tejashwi Yadav is not keen on sharing the stage with Kanhaiya Kumar.
In 2019, Kanhaiya Kumar had contested the Lok Sabha elections against BJP's Giriraj Singh from Begusarai as a Left candidate. The Left leaders had then requested the RJD not to field its candidate from the seat. However, Kanhaiya Kumar lost the polls after the RJD fielded a candidate from there. The votes of the Mahagathbandhan were distributed between Kanhaiya Kumar and the RJD nominee.
Sources claimed that Lalu Prasad's family believes that if Kanhaiya Kumar establishes himself in Bihar politics, Tejashwi Yadav could miss out on Muslim votes.
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