On painkillers, a belt strapped on, Tejashwi carries the weight of INDIA’s Bihar campaign

IT HAS been a back-breaking election for RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav – literally. For nearly a month now, the man on whom the INDIA campaign almost entirely rests in Bihar, has been on the road rallying support for the coalition, popping painkillers, wearing a lumbo sacral belt for back relief, and using a wheelchair when he can.

It’s a crucial fight for Tejashwi who, having proved the stomach for it in the 2020 Assembly polls, now needs to show he can continue irrespective of repeated setbacks and loss of power courtesy a vacillating Nitish Kumar. How 34-year-old Tejashwi performs could also determine INDIA’s fortunes at the Centre, with a crucial 40 seats at stake in Bihar, of which the BJP-led NDA had won 39 in 2019.

Elections in the state are stretched out across the entire seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls, and they were just two phases in when Tejashwi developed pain in his back. On May 3, he was seen limping and walking with the help of aides while campaigning. Soon after, he was advised “maximum bed rest” and use of the belt to help ease pain and stiffness.

It has been more than a month since and, as of Tuesday, Tejashwi had alone addressed 183 public meetings in Bihar. He has also travelled to Mumbai and Delhi to campaign.

Of other INDIA leaders, Rahul Gandhi has been to Bihar just once to hold rallies, in Kishanganj and Bhagalpur. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge has held a couple of meetings.

On the NDA side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held 13 rallies so far, and Union Minister Amit Shah over half-a-dozen. Besides, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma have held four public meetings each.

JD(U) supremo and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has also