Patna, March 30: Cracks within the RJD first family appears to widen, with elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav demanding the party's de facto chief Tejashwi Yadav to replace their candidate from the Jehanabad parliamentary constituency. The senior Yadav scion has threatened to back a rebel leader if the party does not adhere to his demand.

Speaking to reporters in Patna, Tej Pratap - who resigned as the party's youth wing chief three days ago - said he wants the party to replace Surendra Yadav, the candidate announced from Jehanabad, with Chandra Prakash Yadav. He has given Tejashwi a two-day ultimatum -- failing to which he would lend support to Chandra Prakash as the rebel candidate.

Apart from Jehanabad, Tej Pratap has put forth his demand for Sheohar seat as well. From there, he wants Angesh Kumar as the party's official candidate. The RJD is yet to announce its choice from the seat.

Sounding a conciliatory note, Tejashwi said the party would contemplate on the names of both the candidates named by his brother. "Tej Pratap hs every right to give us suggestions," he added.

RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary accused the media of misleading the people by projecting a dispute within the Yadav clan. Denying any sort of factionalism, Tiwary said the differences in their choice of candidates would be mutually resolved by Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. Notably, the seats of Sheohar and Jehanabad would go to polls on May 13 and May 19 respectively.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2019 12:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).