Lalu's cricketer-son to bat for dad's party

On political pitch

Ruling out the possibility of Tejaswi contesting the poll from his mother Rabri Devi’s constituency, Lalu said, “He is under-age. The day he becomes eligible to contest the poll, he will enter the fray. Right now, he in the probation period, and is getting training under me,” Lalu said amid guffaws at a crowded press conference here.

“As of now, he has taken a break from his Ranji Trophy schedule, and will campaign for the RJD candidates,” said Lalu, telling his son to greet those present there with folded hands.
Tejaswi, on his first interaction with the print and electronic media, gave ample indications that politics runs in his blood when he said, “I will appeal to the youth, women and elderly persons, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion, to vote for my father’s party in a consolidated form. I am sure, my uncle (read Nitish Kumar) will get a sound drubbing at the elections.”

Tejaswi is the younger son of Lalu-Rabri and is a member of the Delhi Daredevils cricket team. Earlier, he once made a public appearance with his father at a rally in Patna in 2007, but had then said he had no immediate plans to hit the dusty bylanes of Bihar and canvass for the party. “After all, politics is altogether a different ball game,” Tejaswi had said.
But today, he gave up his gloves, pad and cricket bat a break, and donned a different mantle. Asked specifically to demonstrate how he would give a political speech, Tejaswi, reflecting his father’s wit and humour, shot back, “When Laluji is on the dais, there is hardly any scope for others to say something.”