RJD feud deepens as Tej Pratap shifts to Rabri home

Turmoil in Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad's family over Tej Pratap Yadav's theatrics seems far from over.

Tej Pratap, Lalu's mercurial elder son, visited his mother and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi's residence on Tuesday evening, spent the night there and, according to RJD sources, announced that he would henceforth not stay at the bungalow allotted to him by the state government.

The 'reunion' has brought more anxiety than delight to the family which is yet to come to terms with Tej Pratap's cryptic tweet on Monday in which he expressed a wish to hand over his 'resignation' from the RJD to his father.

The RJD, which is now controlled by Lalu and his younger son Tejashwi Yadav, is rattled by the controversy that has arisen out of a junior leader's accusations against Tej Pratap.

Ramraj Yadav, who heads the Patna unit of the RJD's youth wing, alleged that he was stripped and beaten up by Tej Pratap's supporters who also threated to get him eliminated.

Ramraj alleged that the incident took place last week at Rabri Devi's residence when it was teeming with visitors invited to an iftar party hosted by Tejashwi who lives with his mother.

Sources close to Tej Pratap say he may have decided to live in his mother's 10, Circular Road bungalow following suspicion that Ramraj's allegations were a 'conspiracy' hatched against him by detractors in the party.

While Tej Pratap has tried to come to terms, with limited success, to the greater clout that his younger brother enjoys, his feud with key leaders close to Tejashwi, including state President Jagadanand Singh, is an open secret.

Jagadanand Singh has been, so far, the only RJD leader who said he had knowledge of Ramraj's charges.

"Ramraj had telephoned me and narrated his ordeal. I have taken note of his complaints. But unfortunately taking action against Tej Pratap is not in my hands. He is an MLA and not a mere state unit leader," Singh told reporters.

Tej Pratap's loyalists claim that the alleged assault had never taken place and Ramraj was acting at the behest of Singh, Tejashwi's key political aide Sanjay Yadav and MLC Sunil Kumar Singh.

Neither Sanjay Yadav nor Sunil Kumar Singh has reacted to this controversy surrounding Tej Pratap.

Some RJD leaders see a ray of hope in Lalu Prasad's possible release by next week as he has been granted bail in fodder scam cases by the Jharkhand high court.

Tej Pratap's loyalists maintain he is a serious politician who plans to hold janta darbars, like his father did in his heyday, from next month, besides embarking on a state-wide yatra.

Lalu Yadav's elder son represents Hassanpur in Samastipur district, having shifted base from Mahua in Vaishali where he made his electoral debut but grew unpopular during his earlier legislative stint.