Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad's mercurial elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who is caught in a marital dispute, on Tuesday threatened to wash some dirty linen in public. Yadav came out with a video statement, nearly seven minutes long, fulminating against a news portal which had carried a report about his divorce case, apparently presenting him in a poor light.
"I can come out with countless video clips and other evidence to prove the physical and verbal abuse suffered by me, my parents and my siblings," said Yadav who claimed to maintain silence ever since he filed a petition seeking divorce four years ago. The maverick RJD MLA tied the knot with Aishwarya Rai, a granddaughter of late former chief minister Daroga Prasad Rai, in May 2018. Their union lasted for less than six months.
Aishwarya stayed on at the house of mother-in-law Rabri Devi, a former CM herself, in an apparent bid to save her marriage before storming out on a rainy winter night, alleging before a posse of journalists that she had been driven out. Her father Chandrika Rai, vowing to avenge the insult "politically", quit the RJD to join Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), but failed to retain his pocket borough Parsa assembly seat in 2020.
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Yadav, who remains in news for his mood swings with close party aides and family members at the receiving end, alleged that "the RSS" and "the other side" in his divorce case were hatching a conspiracy to malign him.
"I too have evidence which I have not shared because these involve a young woman (ladki) which makes the matter sentimental (sic)," said Yadav and warned that he might pull no punches if the smear campaign did not end. He also urged media outlets to abide by a family court order restraining journalists from reporting the divorce case proceedings.
Yadav and Aishwarya were last seen together at the Patna High Court a month ago for counselling, which is mandatory for all couples seeking a divorce. (PTI)
