Tej Pratap Yadav is preparing to contest the election as an independent candidate from the Mahua seat, the same seat from which he launched his political career. The seat is dominated by the Yadav-Muslim vote bank.
Bihar Election 2025: Tej Pratap Yadav is once again in the news. Tej Pratap, the elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, appears active regarding his political future. He recently stirred up the political circles by revealing his relationship with Anushka Yadav through social media. Following this, Lalu Yadav announced his removal from the party and family. Now, Tej Pratap is preparing to enter the electoral arena again with a new flag and a new strategy.
Tej Pratap and Mahua's Old Relationship
Tej Pratap Yadav's political innings began from the Mahua seat. He won from this very seat in the 2015 assembly elections and went on to become a minister. During that time, he promised several development works, with a medical college being a major one. Now he claims that he has fulfilled this promise, and the next goal is to open an engineering college in Mahua.
Distance from Hasanpur and Inclination towards Mahua
Tej Pratap Yadav contested the 2020 assembly elections from Hasanpur. However, he did not appear very active in this area. Recently, on the first Monday of Sawan, he visited Hasanpur and interacted with the public. He said that he had come to listen to the problems of the people. When asked whether he would contest the next election from Hasanpur or some other seat, he replied that it had not been decided yet, and he would contest from wherever the public called him.
However, before this, he had visited Mahua, which indicated that his inclination was once again towards Mahua. Tej Pratap, in his speeches, mentioned the promises of 2015, also indicating that he wanted to strengthen the old relationship with the people there.
Distance from RJD and the Possibility of Contesting as an Independent
Tej Pratap is no longer a part of the RJD. Lalu Prasad Yadav has removed him from the party, and the current MLA Mukesh Roshan is still an RJD representative. There have been disagreements between Tej Pratap and Mukesh Roshan regarding the Mahua seat earlier.
Now that Tej Pratap is out of the party, discussions about him contesting as an independent candidate are in full swing. He has also formed his new political team, 'Team Tej Pratap,' and has started efforts to re-establish himself.
Social Equation of Mahua Seat
The Mahua assembly constituency is located in the Vaishali district. The population of this area includes approximately 35 percent of Yadav and Muslim communities. These two communities are traditionally considered the core voters of the RJD. In addition, the population of the Scheduled Castes is also around 21 percent, in which the Ravidas and Paswan communities are in the majority.
If Tej Pratap Yadav contests the election from Mahua as an independent or on the ticket of another party, it could directly divide the RJD's vote bank. This could make the contest triangular or multi-cornered, creating a challenging situation for any party.
