Tej Pratap Yadav: Won’t go home till family backs divorce

Patna/Lucknow: RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son and MLA Tej Pratap Yadav, who has been in the news for his failing marriage, Friday said he was currently putting up in Haridwar and would not return home till his family backed his decision to divorce his wife of six months.   

Talking to a regional news channel here over telephone, he extended his greetings to younger brother Tejashwi Yadav on his birthday, but said he would not be able to join the celebrations in New Delhi, where the RJD heir apparent has gone to meet their sisters.

The mercurial RJD leader was last seen in Bodh Gaya on Saturday where he had checked in at a hotel after meeting his ailing father at a hospital in Ranchi.

Lalu Prasad is learnt to have been upset over his elder son’s decision to seek divorce.

Prasad is serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases. At present, he is lodged at a hospital in Ranchi on medical grounds.

Tej Pratap Yadav and Aishwarya Rai — daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai and grandchild of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Prasad Rai — had tied the knot on May 12.

“Our differences are irreconcilable. I had said this to my parents before the marriage was solemnized. But nobody listened to me then and nobody is listening to me now. Until they agree with me, how can I return home?” Yadav said.

The former Bihar minister also expressed displeasure over the role played by some of his close relatives, including in-laws, in his marital dispute.

Mr Yadav, the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, was recently seen in Mathura with a group of friends, visiting various temples and chanting ‘Radhe Radhe’. According to reports, Mr Tej Pratap Yadav who had been reported ‘missing’ since the past few days had been staying at Vrinda Palace since Thursday.