Aishwarya Rai, ex-wife of Tej Pratap, terms Lalu’s action against his son a ‘drama’

Tej Pratap Yadav, eldest son of Lalu Prasad. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The former wife of Tej Pratap Yadav, Aishwarya Rai, on Monday (May 26, 2025) accused Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and his family of allegedly ruining her life a day after Mr. Prasad expelled his eldest son from the party for six years terming his behaviour “irresponsible”.

Mr. Tej Pratap on Saturday (May 24, 2025) announced on social media that he was “in a relationship for 12 years” with a woman — Anushka Yadav. Later, the post was not found and Mr. Tej Pratap claimed that his Facebook page had been “hacked”.

In 2018, Mr. Tej Pratap got married to Ms. Rai, granddaughter of former Chief Minister of Bihar, Daroga Prasad Rai, but filed for divorce within five months.

“When the family members were aware that he was in a relationship with a woman then why did they get me married. Why did they ruin my life? Why did the family member beat me? Now their social justice has suddenly awakened,” Ms. Rai asked at a press conference, while accompanied by her father and former Minister Chandrika Rai.

On Sunday, Mr. Prasad posted a message on X saying, “Ignoring moral values in personal life weakens the collective struggle for social cause. 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. From now on, he will not have any role of any kind in the party and family. He is expelled from the party for six years.”

Assembly polls

Mr. Prasad was believed to have taken the decision and keeping the upcoming Assembly election in mind which could spoil the public image of his younger son Tejashwi Yadav who is being projected as next Chief Minister of Bihar by the RJD.

Ms. Rai further alleged, “Nobody in the family is separated; they all are very much together. Yesterday also, Rabri Devi must have gone to Tej Pratap to wipe out his tears telling him that she will make everything fine after the election. They are doing drama and all family members are together.”

Asked about any hint of Mr. Tej Pratap being in a relationship with another woman when she was with him, Ms. Rai denied it saying that she was not aware and she came to know about his relationship with a woman through the media.

She asked where was Lalu’s family social justice when she was allegedly being beaten up and what would happen to her now.

Asked about pressuring the Lalu family for the heavy alimony, Ms. Rai said, “Was not Lalu ji, Rabri ji and Tejashwi ji aware about his 12-year-long relationship with another woman? It is very easy to blame a girl because they want to hide the mistakes of their own son.”

Bihar BJP leader Nikhil Anand said Lalu’s family and his party washed their hands of Mr. Tej Pratap’s unethical acts by showing him the door, but many questions remain unanswered.

“It is an eyewash. Lalu expelled Tej Pratap from his home and party citing his son’s immoral act. If there is so much objection, then why doesn’t he write to the Bihar Assembly Speaker to end his membership? It seems the action is taken against Tej Pratap after taking him into confidence and arriving at a consensus within the family,” Mr. Anand alleged.

He added, “Is the action against Tej Pratap an attempt to save RJD’s politics? Is the action against Tej Pratap just a political show-off? The question of self-respect and dignity to Aishwarya Rai and her family still remains unanswered.”

Published - May 26, 2025 10:37 pm IST