# Tejashwi Yadav

Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician and former professional cricketer from Bihar who served for two terms as the deputy chief minister of Bihar. He is the son of former chief ministers of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.

## Early life and education

Yadav was born in Gopalganj, Biharto Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad Yadav, both former chief ministers of Bihar. He is the youngest of the nine siblings and has seven sisters and a brother. He went to school in Patna and later, moved to Delhi, along with his eldest sister, Misa Bharti. In Delhi, he attended Delhi Public School in Vasant Vihar for primary classes till Class V.
He also studied at Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram from Class 6 but dropped out. He did not complete his Class 10 and discontinued his studies to pursue sports.

### Personal life

On 9 December 2021, he married his long-time friend Rajshree Yadav (Rachel Godinho). She is from Rewari in Haryana and has been living in Delhi since childhood. Rajshree and Yadav studied together at DPS school in RK Puram, New Delhi.

## Cricket career

As a professional cricketer, he was in the Delhi Daredevils and the Jharkhand cricket team. He is noted to have been both the youngest Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and the youngest Leader of Opposition in India. He was featured in the Indian Express '100 Most Powerful Indians' in 2020 and 2021.
He captained his school cricket team. He played in the Delhi Public School's cricket team and was selected for the U-15 cricket team of Delhi as an all rounder at the age of 13. His team also included Virat Kohli as its captain. The U-15 team won the national championship, where Yadav had a match winning partnership with Ishant Sharma in the finals. He dropped out of his school in Class X to pursue a sports career and was eventually got into U-17 and U-19 cricket team of Delhi. He was also selected in the list of standby players for the world cup winning U-19 Indian national cricket team, later in the same year.
He was contracted by the Delhi Daredevils for the 2008 Indian Premier League franchise. But remained in the reserve bench of the team for the entire seasons between 2008 and 2012.
He was also selected for the state level Jharkhand cricket team in 2009. His professional cricket debut began with four Twenty20 matches, primarily, in the capacity of a bowler in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Following when he was called for a first class game against Vidarbha cricket team at Dhanbad.
In 2010, he made his one-day debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and played two matches against Odisha cricket team and the Tripura cricket team, respectively.
In 2013, Yadav retired from his cricket career.

## Political career

Yadav started his political life in 2010, campaigning for the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
He first became an MLA winning the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, representing the Mahagathbandan (grand alliance) from the Raghopur constituency. The alliance won the elections and he became the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and was minister for public works, forestry and environment in the 5th Nitish Kumar cabinet.
In March 2018, he become the de facto leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. He led the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, as the chief ministerial candidate of the Mahagathbandhan. The alliance won 110 seats in total out of 243, with RJD winning 75 seats, continuing to remain the single largest political party in Bihar. Since the majority required was 122, the alliance was unable to form the government, and he was elected as the Leader of Opposition of Bihar.
On 10 August 2022, he took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar with Nitish Kumar taking oath as chief minister as part of the Mahagathbandan formed with RJD, Congress and other Opposition Parties.
In 2024, Nitish Kumar left the Mahagathbandhan and formed the government with BJP, effectively terminating Yadav's tenure as deputy chief minister once again.

### Controversy

In 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against Yadav and the Enforcement Directorate launched a probe in relation to money laundering in a 2004 corruption case involving the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, against him and other members of his family including his parents Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad Yadav. This caused Nitish Kumar to pull the Janata Dal (United), out of the alliance and form a new government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2018, he was granted relief in the case by the Delhi High Court.