Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad embarked on his statewide Jan Vishwas Yatra on Tuesday after seeking the blessings of God, his parents — party president Lalu Prasad and former chief minister Rabri Devi — and attacking chief minister Nitish Kumar. He later asserted during the tour that his party was not only of ‘MY’, but also of ‘BAAP’.

Tejashwi showered love on his daughter Katyayani, who is going to turn one next month, and put the toddler’s feet on his forehead before starting on the 11-day tour.

Father Lalu Prasad patted Tejashwi on his back and said: “My full blessings are with him. He has done a lot of work. He will work further also. I appeal to the public to boost his morale.”

Venting her ire on Nitish, Rabri said: “He (Nitish) had come to us before flipping the last time (August 2022). We had not called him. People are talking about the probe on us. Let it happen. We are being investigated for the past 25 years, but nothing new has come out. The people of the country and Bihar are with us.”

Asserting that he was going to the people to seek their support and love, Tejashwi said that Nitish had neither any vision nor any reason for switching alliances.

“I am venturing on the Jan Vishwas Yatra with my mother’s blessings, father’s capabilities and the supporting qualities of my wife. I am going among the people, who are our masters. We will present our side before them and seek their assurance. We will keep serving them and strengthening their voice,” Tejashwi said.

“The work that we did in the last 17 months was not done in the 17 years of Nitish’s rule. He (Nitish) considers the mandate of the people to be his shoes. The public will give a befitting reply to him,” Tejashwi added.

The public meetings and rallies in the tour, which marked the beginning of the RJD’s Lok Sabha poll campaign, turned out to be INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) events as the Congress and Left leaders also shared the dais and their party flags fluttered all around.

Tejashwi started by attacking Nitish and the BJP.

“People say that our party is of ‘MY’ (Muslims and Yadavs). I want to tell them that along with MY it is also the party of ‘BAAP’,” Tejashwi said while addressing a mammoth gathering at Sakri Mor in Muzaffarpur district.

Explaining the acronym BAAP, the RJD leader said B stood for Bahujan (the masses including the backwards and the Dalits), A for agda (general or forward castes), A for aadhi aabadi (half population or women and girls), and P for poor.

“These are A to Z people (encompassing every one of the society). The masses, general castes, women and the poor have come and the RJD has become, apart from MY, the party of BAAP also. We bring people together, instead of dividing them. We talk of love and unity, but the BJP wants to separate people from one another,” added Tejashwi, now the leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Stressing that he has ventured out to fight for the people and their issues, the RJD leader said he aimed to lessen the prevalent unemployment in the state.

He claimed credit for the spate of government jobs provided to the youths in Bihar in the last few months.

He slammed Nitish for doubting his promise of providing 10 lakh jobs during the 2020 Assembly election campaign and taunting about the expenditure it would incur.

“During the election campaign, chief minister Nitish used to ask how would I offer so many jobs. Would I bring money from my father (Lalu Prasad)? But I became the deputy chief minister for 17 months and provided 5 lakh government jobs. I made him (Nitish), who used to taunt, distribute the appointment letters,” Tejashwi added.