Two days ago, when RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya disowned her family by posting this message on X: “I am quitting politics and I am disowning my family… This is what Sanjay Yadav and Rameez had asked me to do… and I am taking all the blame,” it went viral within hours. It was then that many came to know about Rameez. His name raised curiosity not only in Bihar but across India. Who is Rameez? When this question was asked by one Okhla-based journalist to a seasoned Patna-based journalist who has been covering Bihar politics for 30 years, he also said he did not know him.
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However, in Okhla and Jamia Millia Islamia circles, Rameez was known to many, as his father, Nematullah Khan, was a professor at Jamia Millia Islamia and the family lived in Okhla for years. A university teacher told the OT that since the rout of the RJD in the Bihar election, where it secured only 25 seats, there has been a lot of talk about Rameez.
“Son of Nematullah, he used to play cricket with Tejashwi Yadav, and this is how he got close to him,” said the teacher, adding that he maintained a low profile there.
According to party insiders, Rameez has long been part of Tejashwi Yadav’s inner circle, reported NDTV.
In recent days, several newspapers have published reports about Rameez Nemat Khan, who was born in November 1986. Rameez studied at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, and later finished his BA and MBA from Jamia Millia Islamia. Rameez is said to be an old friend of Tejashwi Yadav who hails from a political family in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
Rameez is believed to be an old friend of Tejashwi Yadav, and he comes from a political family in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav, meanwhile, is a political advisor and close aide to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is Acharya’s brother and the heir apparent to their father’s political legacy.
Acharya’s post did not make it clear what exactly Sanjay Yadav and Khan had said to her, but this is not the first time she has sparked a feud within the family.
At Patna airport Acharya told the media: “I have no family and you can go and ask this to Sanjay Yadav, Rameez, and Tejashwi Yadav. They are the ones who threw me out of the family. They do not want to take any responsibility. The whole nation is asking why the party failed like this. When you name Sanjay Yadav and Rameez, you are thrown out of the house, disgraced, abused, and even hit with slippers.”
A Jamia teacher said Rameez is linked to politics through marriage. His father-in-law, Rizwan Zaheer, is a known UP politician who served twice as MP from the Balrampur (now Shravasti) seat. The family has a long presence in UP politics, with his wife Zeba Rizwan contesting elections from the Tulsipur seat twice. Zaheer represented the Balrampur constituency twice as a Samajwadi Party candidate and also served under Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). At one point he even contested independently.
While playing cricket he got close to Tejashwi, he said. He has played for different age-group teams in Delhi and Jharkhand. He even captained the Jharkhand Under-22 team in the 2008–09 season. The turning point came in 2016, when Rameez joined the RJD and has since been an important part of Tejashwi Yadav’s team.
