Why extortion case against RJD MLA Ritlal Yadav puts Tejashwi in a bind

India Today

21-04-2025

In Bihar, especially in an election year, the entanglement of crime and politics is all too familiar. The recent surrender of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ritlal Yadav in an extortion case laid bare yet again the murky overlap between muscle-power and political might in a state where the lines separating criminals and lawmakers have long blurred.Yadav, 53, accompanied by brother Pinku Yadav, brother-in-law Chikku Yadav and accomplice Shravan Yadav, surrendered himself at a Patna court, a procession of supporters in tow, signalling both defiance and resignation. The move came after two partners in a local construction firm lodged an FIR alleging that Yadav and his associates had demanded an extortion payment of Rs 30 lakh to permit the development of a residential plot in his Danapur assembly constituency. According to the complaint, an initial Rs 4 lakh was paid but the threats persisted.advertisementThe Patna police swiftly mounted raids on 11 locations linked to the MLA and his coterie. Officers emerged from the searches with more than Rs 10.5 lakh in cash, blank cheques worth Rs 77.5 lakh, 14 property deeds, 17 cheque books, five official stamps, six pendrives and a walkie-talkie, among other things.Even as the evidence stacked up, Yadav dismissed the allegations as politically motivated to 'finish him off'—a claim that may ring hollow against the backdrop of his extensive crime dossier. While 42 cases are pending against him across multiple jurisdictions, ranging from murder and attempted murder to extortion, rioting and breaches of the Arms Act, Yadav has not been convicted in any.
Born to a marginal farmer, Ramashish Rai, Yadav's formal education ended at Class 12, but his ambitions were undeterred. Police sources acknowledge that although most local developers steered clear of trouble by paying up, a handful chose to resist 'Mukhiaji', as Yadav is colloquially known.advertisementYadav's political ascent has been as unconventional as controversial. In the assembly elections in 2010, he contested as an Independent from Danapur, finishing runner-up to the victorious BJP candidate Asha Devi Sinha. Four years later, with Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Misa Bharti locked in a bruising Lok Sabha poll contest against the BJP's Ram Kirpal Yadav, the then RJD supremo had reached for Ritlal Yadav's support to bolster her campaign. From his cell in Beur Central Jail, Yadav was appointed RJD general secretary—a symbolic gesture of muscle politics, but one that failed to secure victory for Misa Bharti.In 2020, Yadav reclaimed an RJD nomination and trounced the four-time BJP incumbent Asha Devi Sinha by more than 15,900 votes, cementing his hold over Danapur and reaffirming the uneasy marriage of brute force and ballot-box success.Now, as Bihar heads for assembly elections, the Yadav extortion scandal has hit the principal Opposition party at the wrong time. For two decades, the ruling alliance of Janata Dal (United) and BJP has wielded the 'jungle raj' narrative as a potent electoral cudgel against the RJD, time and again referring to Bihar's era of perceived widespread lawlessness under the 15-year RJD rule (1990 to 2005).advertisementIn 2020, Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav had taken the RJD-led grand alliance within a dozen seats of forming the government. The Ritlal Yadav affair now leaves Tejashwi in a perilous bind. Publicly, Tejashwi needs to repudiate any association with the 'jungle raj' tag and distance his party from the taint of criminality, but risks alienating a loyal vote-bank boss whose street-level workings do, in some quarters, translate into decisive electoral turnout. Tejashwi's measured neutrality thus far may help buy time but could reinforce perceptions of tolerance for the darker side of Bihar's politics.Political analysts suggest that swing voters, whose decisions will determine whether the RJD can wrest power from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), could be swayed by images of armed police escorting a sitting MLA into custody. For many urban and semi-urban voters, law and order remains the litmus test. The case against Yadav has somewhat revived memories of kidnappings and extortion rackets under RJD rule, and could tip the balance in marginal seats.The ruling alliance is already exploiting the episode with clinical precision. 'RJD and criminals are partners' is a refrain echoing in the speeches of senior JD(U) leaders such as chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. Yet history points out that Bihar's electorate is capable of overturning even the most damning of narratives if local ties and caste loyalties matter. The question, therefore, is whether the RJD election machinery can create a striking-enough counter-narrative—one emphasising on development, welfare schemes and agrarian revival—to neutralise the electoral impact of yet another courtroom drama involving a politician.advertisementYadav's surrender signals a paradox at the heart of Bihar's democracy: an electorate that demands both strongman protection and good governance. For the RJD, the challenge is to resolve that contradiction.In a polity where the past is rarely past, the real test for Tejashwi lies not in words but actions—he needs to declare unequivocally that muscle-power will no longer substitute for mandate, and demonstrate, in practice, a break from the shadows of 'jungle raj'. Only then might voters be persuaded that Bihar's future can finally shed the burdens of its unchanging present.Subscribe to India Today MagazineMust Watch