‘No question of realignment with JD(U) or Nitish in future’

After being declared the chief ministerial face of the opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, former deputy chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has been busy touring the state, addressing around 12 rallies a day.

- { TEJASHWI PRASAD YADAV } RJD LEADER

Taking time off for an interview with Anirban Guha Roy during the Chhath festival on Monday, Yadav, 35, shared his vision for the state, his commitment to weed out unemployment, and addressed issues such as friction within the alliance and the possibility of a rapprochement with the Janata Dal (United), even as he countered the Bharatiya Janata Party's claim that a win for the RJD-led alliance would take Bihar back to the days of jungle raj. Edited excerpts:

You are promising government jobs to every household not covered under government employment and have talked of bringing a new special law for it. Covering around 20 million households would require huge funds — to the tune of several lakh crores. Where will the money come from? The opposition BJP is calling the promise just poll rhetoric.

I knew this question would be asked. I am here to do politics for a long time and I fully understand that talking about frivolous things or making some half-baked promises will not help me. If I am saying that one job will be given to each household in the state not having government employment, I firmly believe it is doable. When I was the deputy CM for 17 months in the Mahagathbandhan government (from August 2022 to January 2024), we gave jobs to 500,000 people including teachers.