Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patron Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for six years, citing his “irresponsible conduct” and deviation from the family’s values and public decorum.
This came a day after a purported post by the 37-year-old on Facebook spoke of his long-standing relationship with Anushka Yadav, saying that they have been in love and in a relationship for the past 12 years. However, he later claimed that his Facebook account was hacked and the photos edited to defame him and his family.
Announcing the move in a social media post, the former Bihar Chief Minister said that ignoring moral values in personal life weakens the party’s collective struggle for social justice, adding that the conduct of Tej Pratap was not in line with family values or traditions.
“Ignoring moral values in personal life weakens our collective struggle for social justice. The activities, public conduct and irresponsible behaviour of the eldest son are not in accordance with our family values and traditions. Therefore, due to the above circumstances, I am removing him from the party and family. From now on, he will not have any kind of role in the party, and the family. He is expelled from the party for 6 years,” Lalu Yadav said in a post written in Hindi.
“He is capable of differentiating between the good and bad and the merits and demerits of his personal life. Whoever will have relations with him should take a decision as per their own discretion. I have always been an advocate of public shame in public life. The obedient members of the family have adopted and followed this idea in public life. Thank you,” he added.
Lalu Yadav’s younger son and Tej Pratap’s younger brother, Tejashwi Yadav, shared his thoughts on the development while speaking to the media in Patna on Sunday, and said that, according to him, one should keep their political and personal life separate.
“As far as I am concerned, I neither like nor tolerate all this. Personal life should be separate. He is the elder one, and has the right to take his own decisions. But Lalu ji has also made his thoughts clear through a tweet. He did what he thought was right. I came to know about this only through the media,” Tejashwi Yadav said.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) hit out at Lalu Prasady Yadav, calling his move an eyewash by the RJD patron in the wake of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
“Lalu ji is misleading. Why did his conscience not awake when the Lalu family committed a heinous sin against Aishwarya (Tej Pratap Yadav’s former wife). This is pure immorality. He is misleading the people at the time of the elections and after the polls, Tej Pratap will be taken back into the party,” JDU national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said.
Notably, Tej Pratap’s divorce case with Aishwarya Rai remains stuck in court. His marriage to Rai, granddaughter of ex-Bihar CM Daroga Rai, collapsed within months, with Aishwarya accusing her husband and in-laws of throwing her out.
Aishwarya’s father, Chandrika Roy — himself a former minister, quit the RJD in protest, pledging to fight the battle “politically and legally”.
THE POST THAT STIRRED ROW
On Saturday, the purported post garnered a lot of attention on the social media platform. While many people praised Tej ‘Pratap’s courage, some netizens were curious to know whether this relationship will now lead to marriage.
