‘Perhaps grown weary of India,’ jokes former Bihar Minister Tej Pratap on Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip.

Former Bihar Minister Tej Pratap Yadav on Friday took a potshot at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for delivering a speech at EIA University in Colombia, where Gandhi used a car and bike analogy to explain the need for decentralisation of power in India. Pratap mocked Gandhi, saying he must have left to refresh himself and get some fresh air.

“When he returns, Gandhi will likely come back with renewed energy, and that freshness will be visible on his face,” Pratap added.

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Meanwhile, referring to Gandhi’s many trips abroad where he delivered speeches at universities about the Indian political landscape, Pratap joked that it seems Rahul Gandhi may have developed a greater liking for foreign countries and perhaps has grown weary of India.

He added that the Congress leader has even grown weary of the soil of Bihar, also, referring to the upcoming assembly elections.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi conducted a 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, involving RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in August-September, which aimed to raise awareness about alleged irregularities in the voter list, which opposition leaders have termed a case of ‘vote chori’ (vote theft).

Covering over 1,300 km across 20 districts, the yatra was scheduled to conclude in Patna on September 1. Bihar Assembly elections are expected later this year.

In February 2024, Rahul Gandhi took a break from his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to deliver two lectures at Cambridge University on the 27th and 28th. During his visit, he stated that Indian democracy was “under attack.”

In May 2022, speaking in London, Rahul Gandhi warned that India’s democratic institutions were under strain, claiming bodies like the CBI and ED were being misused. He compared the situation to Pakistan, suggesting a “deep state” was undermining the Indian government from within.

During earlier visits to the UK and Germany in 2018, Gandhi drew parallels between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-US President Donald Trump, accusing Modi of politicising public anger over unemployment for electoral gain.

Taking an independent political path, Tej Pratap’s political venture, Janshakti Janata Dal, was officially recognised in August. He formally unveiled the party’s election symbol — the blackboard.

In August, Tej Pratap Yadav announced the formation of a coalition of five smaller parties to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The announcement was made at a press conference attended by the national presidents of all five parties. Earlier in May, he was expelled from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) by his father and party chief, Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Experts look at this development as a direct challenge to his younger brother, Tejashwi Yadav, the current major face of the opposition in Bihar. Intensifying tensions within the RJD and the Yadav family, the development has raised questions about the party’s unity ahead of the important elections in the state.