Tej Pratap Yadav was ejected from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for six years on Sunday by his father, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who cited his “irresponsible conduct” and departure from the family’s traditions and public etiquette.
This was a day after Tej Pratap allegedly posted on Facebook about his long-term romance with Anushka Yadav, claiming that they had been together for 12 years and were in love. He later asserted, however, that the images were altered to disparage him and his family after his Facebook account was breached.
The former Bihar Chief Minister announced the decision on social media, saying that Tej Pratap’s actions were against family values and customs and that disregarding moral principles in one’s personal life undermines the party’s overall fight for social justice. “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.
Speaking to the media in Patna on Sunday, Tejashwi Yadav, the younger brother of Tej Pratap and the younger son of Lalu Yadav, offered his opinions on the situation, stating that one should keep one’s personal and political lives apart. “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.
Ahead of the 2019 Bihar Assembly elections, Lalu Prasady Yadav was criticised by Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), which referred to his action as an eyewash by the RJD patron. “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 and Aishwarya Rai’s divorce case is still pending. Within months, his marriage to Rai, the granddaughter of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Rai, fell apart, and Aishwarya accused her husband and in-laws of evicting her. Chandrika Roy, Aishwarya’s father and a former minister, resigned from the RJD in disgust, promising to fight the case “politically and legally.”
The alleged tweet received a lot of attention on the social media site on Saturday. Tej ‘Pratap’s bravery was commended by many, but some internet users wondered if this romance would eventually result in marriage. In a Hindi clarification shared shortly after the viral post, Tej Pratap wrote: “My social media platforms have been hacked and my photos are being edited inappropriately to harass and defame me and my family. I appeal to my well-wishers and followers to stay alert and not pay attention to any rumours”.
Tej Pratap Yadav is getting ready to run in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly Elections from the Mahua seat in the Vaishali district, abandoning the Hasanpur seat in Samastipur. It may be noted that he had won the Mahua seat in 2015 and now he is strategising a return to the same constituency once again.
