‘We can’t tolerate such things’: Tejashwi, Rohini defend brother Tej Pratap’s expulsion from RJD

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday defended his father and party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s decision to expel his elder brother Tej Prasad Yadav from the party over a controversial Facebook post.

 

Tej Prasad was removed from the party a day after he shared a photo of him with a woman on Facebook, saying they had been in a relationship for the last 12 years. The post drew a social media backlash, with many questioning why he married another woman in 2018 if he already had an affair.

 

Tej married Aishwarya, the granddaughter of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Rai, in 2018.

 

"My elder brother is an adult. He is free to make any choice in his personal life. But there are certain things we cannot tolerate. And this is what our national president has asserted in his post," said Tejashwi, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

 

‘Papa like God’

 

Tejashwi’s sister Rohini Acharya too came out in strong support of her father, citing repeated violations of family values and public conduct by Tej.

 

"Those who take care of the dignity of the environment, tradition, family and upbringing are never questioned. Those who abandon their wisdom and repeatedly commit the mistake of crossing the limits of decent conduct and family prestige, they make themselves the subject of criticism,” she wrote on X.

 

"For us, Papa is like God, family is our temple and pride and the party built by Papa's tireless efforts and struggles, and the concept of social justice is our worship. We will never accept that the reputation of these three is tarnished due to anyone,” she further said.

 

Earlier in the day, Lalu Prasad announced his decision to expel his elder son from the party for six years in a post on X for “irresponsible behaviour” and “ignoring moral values”.

 

The RJD chief also said he has snapped all family relations with Tej.

 

“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,” he said.

 

“Therefore, due to these 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 6 years,” said the RJD chief.

India