Why is Lalu's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav throwing tantrums?

Tej Pratap feels insecure due to the rise of his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who is calling the shots in the party in absence of Lalu who is currently behind bars in the fodder scam case, writes ETV Bharat's Amit Bhelari

Patna:RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's eldest son seems to have become an unguided missile for the party. It is evident from the latest issue he has created in the RJD by levelling serious charges against his own MLC Kumar Saurabh from West Champaran.

In the latest allegation, Tej Pratap stated that RJD MLC Kumar Saurabh has built a bathroom worth Rs 50 lakh. Tej however did not reveal where or whose bathroom was built by Saurabh but he accused him of being a corrupt person who was "looting" poor people.

Political experts have opined that Tej Pratap feels insecure due to the rise of his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who is calling the shots in the absence of Lalu who is currently behind bars in the fodder scam case. "Ever since Lalu has gone to jail, he has handed over the party to Tejashwi and he only takes all the important decisions due to which Tej Pratap feels uncomfortable," a political expert said adding, "though he is the eldest son, the younger brother manages the party and is the likely successor."

All these things push Tej Pratap to "lose his control time and again" and he keeps on issuing controversial statements against the party and its leaders. Last year Tej Pratap had demanded action against its own state president Jagadnand Singh and went on to call him an aide of RSS. Much before this, Pratap had openly slammed Singh for not giving "any value to him and nor to the RJD workers and MLAs". Pratap even went on to say that Singh was responsible for the ill health of his father.

A senior RJD leader requesting anonymity told ETV Bharat that he could not go against Tej Pratap though it was amply clear that the latter's statements damaged the image of the party. “If any other worker or leader of the party would have made such remarks against the party, the top leadership would have taken strong action against them. In the case of Tej Pratap even Lalu Ji does not speak much,” the senior RJD leader said.

Patna based political expert Dr Sanjay Kumar termed Tej Pratap's behaviour as a fallout of him not being given the top post in the party like Tejashwi. “Like Tejashwi, the eldest son of Lalu wants the same respect and value from the RJD leaders but they pay respect to Lalu ji and Tejashwi. Tej Pratap would get the same respect if he would have made himself a mature and serious leader instead of creating a nuisance for the party. Not taking any action against him also sends the wrong message among the workers as Tej Pratap takes advantage of being the son of Lalu,” Dr Sanjay said.