'Jaichands will have to pay price, face consequences': Tej Pratap on 'insult' to Rohini Acharya
Patna (PTI): Tej Pratap Yadav, the chief of Janshakti Janta Dal and elder son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, has come out in support of his sister, Rohini Acharya, following her recent public allegations of humiliation by her brother Tejashwi Yadav and aide, Sanjay Yadav, stating "Jaichands will have to pay the price and face the consequences".
The former Bihar minister, who lost the election from Mahua assembly seat, voiced his sentiments in support of his sister Rohini Acharya in a post on his X handle, blaming the crisis on 'Jaichand', a metaphor for traitors.
"I will not tolerate the insult to our sister under any circumstances... Jaichands will have to pay the price for their misdeeds... they will have to face the consequences. Whatever has happened with Rohni didi has shaken me. I tolerated whatever happened to me, but I can't tolerate this insult to my sister. It's unacceptable and unbearable," Yadav said.
"I must tell all these Jaichands... If they target our family, people of Bihar will never forgive them," he added.
RJD president Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya on Sunday alleged that she has been "sworn at" and accused of extracting "crores of rupees and a party ticket" in exchange for a "filthy kidney" that she gave to her ailing father.
A day after having left for Delhi, claiming that she had been "driven out" of her parents' home by the cohorts of her younger brother Tejashwi Yadav, the 47-year-old shared lurid details of what took place at their place after the party suffered a debacle in the Bihar assembly polls.
In a couple of posts on her X handle, Acharya alleged, "I was sworn at (gandi galiyan di gayi)", and was "accused of having given my filthy (gandi) kidney to my father" in exchange for "crores of rupees and a party ticket".
Acharya, who had donated a kidney to Prasad a few years ago, had contested last year's Lok Sabha polls, unsuccessfully, from Saran.
In her emotionally charged posts, she rued having made the sacrifice to save her father's life "without caring for the approval of my husband and my in-laws or for the well-being of my three children".
In a dig at Tejashwi Yadav, her father's heir apparent, she said, "May all married women, if they have a brother, never take such a step. They should ask their brother to donate his own kidney or that of a Haryanvi friend."
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Health minister Wes Streeting's resignation piles pressure on UK PM Starmer
London (PTI): UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday, declaring that he had lost confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
As a frontrunner to replace Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Streeting is expected to launch his bid to be elected Labour leader if he can secure the backing of the party's requisite 81 members of Parliament.
It piles further pressure on Starmer, who has been attempting to quell an internal rebellion over the devastating results for the governing party in last week’s local elections.
“It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism," Streeting said in his resignation letter addressed to Starmer.
“It needs to be broad, and it needs to be the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope you will facilitate it,” he said.
The former minister accused his boss of lacking any vision and overseeing a power “vacuum” and also went on to highlight his own record of leading the Department for Health and Social Care and state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
Streeting added: “The National Health Service is the embodiment of all that is best about Britain and our values. Thanks to our Labour government, it is on the road to recovery: lots done, but so much more to do.
“These are all good reasons for me to remain in post, but as you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so.”
His words are being interpreted as paving the way for a Labour leadership contest, with former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband among his other expected rivals.
While some indications are that this process may not be triggered any time soon, Starmer's future as Labour leader is looking extremely tenuous if the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) gets involved in a formal election process.
Meanwhile, Rayner issued a statement earlier to confirm that she had been cleared by the UK tax authorities of any wrongdoing over her financial affairs that had forced her to step down from the Cabinet last year.
"I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs] has accepted this," she said.
This is seen as her declaring her intention to be ready to join the fray, should a Labour leadership election be launched.
The latest turmoil at the top of the British government comes after a series of junior ministerial resignations, with Starmer staying the course by announcing their replacements. Earlier his ally, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, cautioned her colleagues to refrain from plunging the country into chaos and putting the UK’s economic recovery at risk.
“We shouldn’t put that at risk by plunging the country into chaos at a time when there is conflict in the world, but also at a time when our plan to grow the economy is starting to bear fruit," she said.
However, the deep divisions within the Labour Party ranks are only expected to escalate further in the coming days and weeks.
