After months of lull, Tej Pratap set to hold youth rally in Feb

The Yadav scion, who filed for divorce from his wife Aishwariya Rai in November, hit out at chief minister Nitish Kumar for not giving him an audience over his demand for a bungalow in Patna’s VVIP area.

After staying away from politics for a few months, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA and former state health minister Tej Pratap Yadav is ready for a comeback.

Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's son and former minister and MLA Tejpratap Yadav addressing a press confrence at party office in Patna Bihar India on Sunday (Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Addressing media at the RJD office in Patna on Sunday, the elder son of Lalu Prasad announced that he would hold a rally of youths in Patna in February. The 30-year-old took potshots at the Nitish Kumar government for not allotting him a government bungalow in Patna.

“I am very much active in politics and mobilise youths for a rally in Patna next year . We have the task of defeating the BJP-led NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha (LS) polls,” he said. The announcement by Tej Pratap is significant as he looks to position himself as a key player in RJD ahead of the LS polls.

The Yadav scion, who filed for divorce from his wife Aishwariya Rai in November, hit out at chief minister Nitish Kumar for not giving him an audience over his demand for a bungalow in Patna’s VVIP area.

Being a a legislator from Mahua assembly constituency, Tej Pratap has been alloted a flat at Daroga Rai Path.

“As a former minister, I am entitled to a bungalow. I have contacted building construction minister Maheshwar Hazari and also rang up the CM’s office for a meeting with Kumar, but to no avail. People of Bihar are watching all this, and they will give a befitting reply to this government in the upcoming polls,” he said.

The former minister, however, reiterated that he would not stay at his parents’ home at 10, Circular Road Residence for personal reasons. Source close to Tej Pratap said he had not gone home since he filed divorce from his wife on November 2. The divorce petition is being heard by a family court in Patna .

Reports said Tej Pratap briefly interacted with his mother Rabri Devi during a wedding of one of his cousins on Saturday. He refused to relent to his parents’ request of staying with them, sources added. Tej Pratap did not meet his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and father- in- law Chandrika Rai at the wedding.

On Sundaym he repeated that he would not withdraw the divorce petition. “The divorce matter is personal and let it remain that way,” he said. On being asked wether he wanted to contest the Saran parliamentary seat in the LS polls, he said RJD chief Lalu Prasad would take the decision.

In a lighter vein, Tej Pratap revealed that he had stayed in Vrindavan and other religious sites for the past one month, to seek Lord Krishna’s blessings for the BJP-led NDA’s defeat in the LS polls. “Bihar’s electoral fight in the next LS polls is nothing short of the Battle of Kurukshetra,” he said, adding that youths and women should be given more tickets.

Besides, Tej said he was confident that the Grand Alliance would put up a good performance in the polls as people were frustrated with the NDA government over price rise, lawlessness, and corruption.