Tej Pratap filed for divorce within six months of his wedding to Chandrika Rai's daughter(File)
Lalu Yadav's elder son Tej Pratap, who filed for divorce last year, wants his father-in-law Chandrika Rai replaced as the RJD candidate in Saran, a parliamentary constituency his father represented four times. He wants his mother Rabri Devi to contest from the seat; else, he says, he would contest as an independent candidate against Mr Rai.
"Saran is the seat of my father Lalu ji and mother Rabri ji. I urge my mother, with folded hands, that she herself enter the fray from there. If this does not happen I will contest as an independent and make my best efforts to win it," Tej Pratap was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
Tej Pratap, 30, has been upset since his father-in-law Chandrika Rai - a senior RJD leader - was included in the list of RJD candidates for the April-May national election.
Tej Pratap filed for divorce within six months of his wedding to Chandrika Rai's daughter Aishwarya. He had strongly opposed his nomination but his younger and more politically astute brother Tejashwi, who takes all the decisions in the party in their father's absence, clearly had other ideas.
In protest, Tej Pratap quit a party post last week. On Monday, he demanded that two of his aides be fielded in two seats, Jehanabad and Sheohar. If not, he will field his candidates under his new party name--"Lalu-Rabri Morcha".
Saran was won by Lalu Yadav in 2009, his last electoral contest before conviction in a fodder scam case four years later left him disqualified. Rabri Devi was fielded from the seat in 2014 but she lost to BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Tej Pratap further said that there were elements in the party trying to create a rift between him and his brother.
"Many elements have entered the RJD who are trying to drive a wedge between my brother and I. I would urge Tejashwi, whom I always call my Arjuna, to beware of such elements. He must not pay heed to those who mislead him into taking decisions whereby committed workers feel slighted," he was quoted by news agency PTI.
With inputs from PTI