Lalu’s Elder Son, Tej Pratap Files For Divorce Within Six Months Of Marriage, Accuses Wife Of Mental Cruelty

The elder son of former Bihar Chief Minister and jailed RJD chief Lalu Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, has filed for divorce from his wife at a Patna civil court on Friday, Patna Daily has reported.

The divorce proceedings have been filed under under Section 13(1) (1A) of the Hindu Marriage Act that deals with cruelty by a husband or a wife against the other. The court has set 29 November as the next date of hearing.

Tej Pratap Yadav, who had served as the Health Minister of Bihar under the short lived RJD-JD(U) Mahagathbandhan government, married Aishwarya Rai in an extravagant ceremony that witnessed the presence of over 10,000 guests including leading political figures and Bollywood celebrities.

Aishwariya Rai is the granddaughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Rai and daughter of former RJD minister Chandrika Rai. While she received her education from a prestigious management school in Delhi, Tej Pratap Yadav hasn’t completed Intermediate level school education from B N College.

During the ostentatious marriage ceremony giant billboards were erected across Patna portraying the newly-wed couples as Lord Shankar and Parvati inviting criticism and ridicule on social media.

Tej Pratap, who is viewed as a maverick figure, recently announced his entry in the world of Hindi films by tweeting the poster of the movie "Rudra: The Avatar" in June. He starred in a Bhojpuri film two years ago while he was still a minister in the Bihar cabinet.

Tej Pratap has been reportedly on a collision course with his brother and Lalu Yadav's younger son, Tejashwi Yadav. Latter is seen as Lalu’s natural successor and has established near complete control of the party apparatus in the absence of his imprisoned father.

Tej Pratap Yadav even went public expressing his disenchantment over his own marginalisation and younger sibling being given a prominent role. Lalu’s daughter and MP Misa Bharti even admitted that Tej Pratap was not happy with his position within the party and felt that he was being sidelined by Tejaswi.

Interestingly Lalu Yadav, who was in Ranchi jail in connection with his conviction in cases related to fodder scam, was given a conditional bail to attend his son's wedding in Patna but he successfully managed to extend the duration of his bail by several weeks on health grounds.

Tej Pratap has been notorious for his statements. He had threatened to skin Prime Minister Narendra Modi alive after downgrading of his father's security from Z+ to Z.