A call from Tejashwi that left Patna DM stumped

The caller divulges his identityover the telephone, causing the voice of the peremptorybureaucrat on the line to quiver, as crowds erupt in cheers.

The video of the telephonic exchange between RJDleader Tejashwi Yadav and Patna District MagistrateChandrashekhar Singh, that took place on Wednesday night, hasgone viral on the social media.

It was a rare display of assertiveness in public byYadav, who happens to be the unchallenged leader of theopposition in the state where the recent assembly electionssaw him coming out of his father Lalu Prasad's shadow andsteer his party to an impressive performance.

The 31-year-old leader had dialled the officer'snumber from the Eco Park here, where hundreds of protesters,all Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) pass job aspirants, hadgathered.

The agitators, who had cleared their tests in 2019,have been staging a protest for a number of days atGardanibagh, which has been designated as a ''dharna sthal'' bythe district administration.

They were seeking appointment as government teachers,in accordance with a Patna High Court direction.

On Wednesday, a skirmish had led to their being drivenaway from Gardanibagh and their food and other belongings,kept at a stadium nearby, were also allegedly thrown away.

Learning that the agitators were squatting at the EcoPark, adjacent to the secretariat, in the thick of the winternight, Yadav who stays a kilometre away drove to the spot in ashow of solidarity.

He telephoned the DM and apprised him of the situationfollowing which the officer asked him to send the details onWhatsApp.

Yadav, who was making the call with his phone'sloudspeaker on, asked the DM by what time could remedialaction be expected.

''What do you mean by what time? You have not even sentme the details so far,'' snapped the officer.

Realizing that the DM was, perhaps unmindful of theidentity of the caller's identity, Yadav said emphatically,''DM sahib, this is Tejashwi Yadav'', evoking the word ''sir''multiple times from the recipient of the call who obviouslysounded spooked.

The crowd clapped wildly and the enthused young leaderspoke into the phone: ''Please do the needful at the earliestelse I will have to join these people in their dharna at theEco Park''.

More claps and whistles followed. A video clip of theanimated exchange has left the social media abuzz.

At a press conference on Thursday, when asked aboutthe incident, Yadav said, ''The attitude of the officer wassimply a reflection on the insensitivity of the Nitish Kumargovernment.'' ''People do not get their rights unless they are readyto pay RCP tax,'' he quipped referring to his often repeatedallegations against the Bihar Chief Minister's key aide andJD(U) president RCP Singh.

''But we have a duty towards people as the opposition.

We will make the government heed their voice,'' he asserted.

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