Tejashwi Yadav

Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician and former professional cricketer who served as the 5th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, from 10 August 2022 to 28 January 2024.

He also serves as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Minister of Road Construction and Public Works Department, Minister of Urban Development and Housing as well as the Minister of Rural Works and Development in the Bihar Government.

Tejashwi Yadav was born in Gopalganj, Bihar on 9 November 1989 to Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad Yadav, both of whom were members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and later became the Chief Ministers of Bihar.

He is one of 9 siblings (7 sisters and 2 brothers) among whom he is the youngest.

He began his schooling in Patna and later moved to Delhi, accompanying his eldest sister Misa Bharti who was enrolled for an MBBS.

In Delhi, Yadav initially attended Delhi Public School in Vasant Vihar for primary classes till Class V.

His 7 sisters are Misa Bharti, Rohini, Chanda, Ragini, Hema, Anushka and Raj Lakshmi Yadav.

Tej Pratap Yadav is his elder brother.

Anushka Yadav is married to Chiranjeev Rao, while Raj Lakshmi Yadav is married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav.

On 9 December 2021, Tejashwi Yadav 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 Tejashwi studied together at DPS school in RK Puram, New Delhi.

Yadav was contracted by the Delhi Daredevils for the 2008 Indian Premier League franchise.

He remained in the reserve bench of the team in 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 4 Twenty20 matches primarily in the capacity of a bowler in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Following which he was called for a first class game against Vidarbha cricket team at Dhanbad.

He was fielded as the number 7 batsman and bowled in 5 overs.

Tejasvi Yadav studied in Delhi and dropped out and did not complete his class 10th exam to pursue sports.

According to his school teachers, he was a scrawny and shy child.

He was also the school cricket team's captain.

From Class VI onwards, he began attending Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram.

The principal of the school described him as an introvert and a cricket enthusiast.

He played in the school's cricket team and was selected for the U-15 cricket team of Delhi as an all rounder at the age of 13.

According to his teammates, he had helped them win a number of tournaments during his first season, 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.

Tejashwi 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.

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; his team lost the first match and won the second one, Yadav took a wicket against Tripura.

Since 2010, while still pursuing his cricket career, Yadav had begun campaigning for the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Following his advent into politics, he was credited for successfully modernising campaigning strategies and initiating digital outreach for the party.

By 2013, Yadav had retired from his cricket career.

According to a 2013 article of the Business Standard, "the stupefying talent soon gave way to a spate of middling performances, ensuring that his cricketing career never fully took off."

According to his team coaches, he had the potential for success in his cricket career but was let down by the lack of adequate facilities for sportsmen in Bihar; the state also lacked a domestic cricket team which had caused Yadav to move to another state like most other Bihari players where local players were prioritised for playing matches.

According to Rashtriya Janata Dal insiders, Yadav had also convinced Lalu Prasad to form a coalition with Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) following the poor performance of both the parties in the 2014 Indian general election in Bihar.

Eventually an alliance was formed between the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian National Congress.

A member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from Raghopur Assembly constituency since 2015, Yadav leads the Rashtriya Janata Dal - the single largest political party in the state of Bihar, and is the chairperson of the Mahagathbandhan alliance, the ruling coalition currently in Government.

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 during the respective periods.

Yadav was featured in the Indian Express ‘100 Most Powerful Indians’ in 2020 and 2021.