Patna: Tensions within the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) escalated on Thursday as party workers gathered outside the RJD state headquarters in Patna, launching strong protests against Tejashwi Yadav’s close aide Sanjay Yadav and party MLC Sunil Singh. The agitating workers held the duo responsible for the party’s heavy defeat in the recently concluded Bihar assembly elections.
The demonstration came shortly after a dramatic outburst by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter, Rohini Acharya, who publicly blamed Sanjay Yadav for the party’s collapse and even announced she would quit politics. Her sharp criticism added fuel to the already growing dissatisfaction among party members following the party’s poor performance.
Angry protesters burnt an effigy of Sanjay Yadav outside the office, accusing him of being part of a group of “outsiders” influencing the party’s internal decisions. Many workers raised slogans declaring, “People who have come from outside Bihar cannot be allowed to run the party or the state,” signaling deep resentment among grassroots supporters. For the RJD, this episode marks yet another crisis within the party’s first family after the electoral setback.
Protesters insisted that the RJD’s leadership must remain firmly tied to Bihar, rather than being shaped by individuals or strategists from Haryana — a pointed reference to Sanjay Yadav. Rohini Acharya had also earlier flagged the alleged growing influence of “Haryanvis” in the party’s affairs.
Rohini further accused both Sanjay Yadav and Rameez Alam, another prominent aide of Tejashwi Yadav, of driving her out of the family. In a deeply emotional statement, she told reporters that both men were responsible for her humiliation. “I have no family. You can go and ask this to Sanjay Yadav, Rameez, and Tejashwi Yadav. They are the ones who threw me out of the family,” she said, also alleging that she had been “disgraced, abused and hit with a chappal (slipper).”
