Who is Tejashwi Yadav?

Tejashwi Yadav, who took over as
Bihar’s new deputy chief minister is not new to the office. He had earlier
served as chief minister Nitish Kumar‘s deputy when their parties last
partnered to set up a government in Bihar. Yadav was also Leader of Opposition
in the Bihar assembly, as he has led his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, (RJD)
in the absence of his father and legendary politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, who
was serving a jail sentence for corruption.

Tejashwi Yadav has also played
professional cricket. 

That is an impressive CV for a
32-year-old, but Tejashwi is to the manor born. Lalu Prasad Yadav had made it
clear early that his youngest child was his political heir. Though his
father continues to be the president of the party that he founded in 1997, it
is Tejashwi who has been the face of the party for most part of the last
decade, making him one of the most influential politicians in the
state.  

Who is Tejashwi Yadav?

Born on November 9, 1989, to Lalu
Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi in Gopalganj, Bihar, Tejashwi is one of
their nine children; he has seven sisters and two brothers. When he was born,
both of his parents were members of the state legislative assembly and later
served as chief minister of the Bihar.

The youngest child of the family,
Tejashwi began his schooling in Patna, but soon moved to New Delhi with his
oldest sister Misa, who was pursuing an MBBS degree at the time. He was
enrolled at Delhi Public School in Vasant Vihar.

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He switched to Delhi Public
School in RK Puram when he was in the sixth grade. It was here that Tejashwi
Yadav’s cricket abilities were noticed for the first time and he was selected
for the Delhi Under-15 side, which was captained by India star Virat Kohli and
also had Ishant Sharma in it. 

Tejashwi left studies to pursue a
full-time career in cricket when he was in the 10th grade. He became a part of
the Indian Under-19 team that won the World Cup. 

Tejashwi was also a part of the
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils between 2008 and 2012,
but he never played.  His career after this was mostly restricted to
domestic cricket and in 2013, he decided to retire from the sport at the age of
25.

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He returned home to Bihar to
politics and campaigned prominently in the 2010 Bihar elections, in which the
RJD suffered a humiliating defeat. When Lalu Yadav was convicted and sentenced
to a jail term in the fodder scam, Yadav, barely 24, had to take on big responsibilities
in the party.