'It was really difficult for Laluji to expel his son from the party and sever family ties with him.'
It was a social media post that had the impact of a surgical strike.
The night of Saturday, May 23, was tense inside 10, Circular Road, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi's official residence in Patna.
Hours earlier, their elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, a former state minister known for his unusual lifestyle, had revealed his 12 year-long relationship with Anushka Yadav in a Facebook post.
Though he deleted the post later, saying his account was hacked, Tej Pratap later reposted it, followed by a series of photographs and intimate video clips, all of which went viral on social media in no time.
But the damage had been done.
His parents, both former chief ministers, were clearly upset as Tej Pratap's divorce with Aishwarya Rai is still pending in court.
Even more upset was Lalu-Rabri's younger son Tejashwi Yadav, who lives with his parents and is widely seen as Lalu's heir-apparent. He could sense the adverse political impact from Tej Pratap's Facebook post ahead of the Bihar assembly elections later this year.
Tejashwi, the RJD-led Opposition Mahagathbandan's likely chief ministerial candidate, held several rounds of discussions with his parents till late Saturday night and on Sunday morning, and reportedly pressurised Lalu-Rabri into a course of action against Tej Pratap for damage control.
"Tejashwi expressed his anger and explained his fear that their political opponents will use Tej Pratap as an issue in the elections. That is bound to harm the RJD and the party have to spend its time and energy defending the charges, which may affect its performance and strike rate," says a RJD leader who is also a party spokesperson.
"To stave off such a situation, Tejashwi requested his parents to take some action without any delay to send a political message, and Laluji agreed," the RJD leader adds.
"Laluji was upset over Tej Pratap's Facebook post and could be seen pacing outside his room through the night and discussing it with Rabriji. Whatever action Laluji took on Sunday was due to political compulsions more than social," confides a member of the Yadavs' domestic staff, who has been working for Lalu-Rabri for over two decades at their residence.
On Sunday afternoon Lalu expelled Tej Pratap from the party for six years as well as from the family.
In his post on X in Hindi, Lalu said, '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 remove him from the party and family,' Lalu tweeted.
'From now on, he (Tej Pratap) will not have any role of any kind in the party and family. He is expelled from the party for 6 years.
'He is capable of seeing the good and bad and merits and demerits of his personal life.
'All those who will have relations with him should make their own decisions.
'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,' Lalu said in his post.
Though Lalu's younger son Tejashwi and daughter Dr Rohini Acharya, who unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Chhapra, publicly supported Lalu's action against Tej Pratap, elder sister Dr Misa Bharti, MP, and mother Rabri Devi have been silent.
Rabri Devi and Misa are known to be fond of Tej Pratap.
"Lalu understands social and political issues more than anyone," says a senior RJD leader who is close to Lalu's family.
"Hours after Tej Pratap's post and the photos went viral and NDA leaders questioned his moral and family values, Laluji, with tears in his eyes, took action against Tej Pratap. After all, Laluji is a father, who has been ailing for quite some time, and Tej Pratap is his eldest son," the RJD leader adds.
"It was really difficult for him to expel his son from the party and sever family ties with him."
Tej Pratap, 37, who is constantly in the news for his activities and controversial remarks, in 2018 wed Aishwarya Rai, former minister Chandrika Rai's daughter and former chief minister Daroga Rai's granddaughter, with much fanfare.
But the marriage was soon in trouble and Aishwarya left the matrimonial home within a month, alleging harassment by Tej Pratap and his family.
Later Tej Pratap and Aishwarya filed for divorce in the family court, a matter which is still pending.
Lalu and his family faced flak over the treatment allegedly meted out to Aishwarya Rai, who belongs to a respected Yadav family.
After Tej Pratap's latest post and Lalu's action against him, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, founder of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, asked Lalu why he was silent about the Aishwarya matter.
'Why was no action taken then? But now in view of the polls action was taken against Tej Pratap,' Manjhi stated.
This view was echoed by Janata Dal-United leader Neeraj Kumar and senior BJP leader Nikhil Anand.
"Lalu is not in position to take any risk now or to ignore anything that may pose a threat to his traditional social support base, mainly his own caste, which has been overwhelmingly supporting him since the 1990s," says a political observer.
"Tej Pratap may be his elder son," adds the political watcher, "but his political heir is Tejashwi, who is taking his legacy ahead."
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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