Son-in-law vows to end Lalu's run

Says RJD's lantern will be extinguished in Bihar poll

After Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, it is the turn of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad to see such a rebellion in family as his son-in-law declared that he would campaign against “Janata Parivaar” in the Bihar Assembly polls.

Electoral rivalry could pit even close relatives against each other. Lalu’s son-in-law Tej Pratap Yadav, who is also the grandson of Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, declared on Saturday that the alliance led by the SP would capture power in Bihar.

“We will extinguish the lantern (the election symbol of Lalu’s party),” Tej Pratap said at a meeting of the SP workers in Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha constituency of Mulayam, after a function.

Tej Pratap, married to Lalu’s daughter Raj Luxmi, said that he would, if permitted by his party, campaign in the Bihar Assembly polls.

“The SP government in UP has initiated several schemes for the youths...the schemes like free laptops, financial assistance to the girls for higher studies, cycle distribution and unemployment allowance will be launched in Bihar as well” he added.

The young SP leader, who was a Lok Sabha member from Mainpuri, rejected assertions that the SP-led alliance would only divide secular votes.

SP leaders have been displaying a rare aggression in their remarks on the Janata Parivaar. A few days ago, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had said that Lalu and Nitish Kumar had “stabbed” his party “in the back”.

SP had quit the Janata Parivaar after the party was allocated only five seats. SP termed it a “humiliation”.

Paswan’s son-in-law had also warned that he would campaign against the NDA alliance in Bihar after he was denied nomination by the LJP.