Bihar Assembly Polls 2020: Nomination papers show Tejashwi Yadav 'older' than Tej Pratap

In what may be a major goof up by the Mahagathbandhan's Chief Ministerial Candidate, Tejashwi Yadav, who is the younger son of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad, was reported to be 'older' than his elder brother Tej Pratap according to nomination papers filed by them.

According to the papers, Tejashwi is 31 years old, while Tej Pratap is 30 years old. The brothers had filed their nominations on Wednesday from Raghopur in Vaishali and Hasanpur in Samastipur, respectively.

The age controversy had originally cropped up in 2017, when it was pointed out that Tejashwi and Tej Pratap had mentioned their ages as 26 and 25 respectively in their nomination papers for the 2015 Assembly polls. "I had mentioned my age as per the electoral roll where it was written that I am 25 years old (during 2015)", Tej Pratap had then clarified, adding that he would inform the Election Commission office in the state and get it rectified.

However, the 'rectification' appears to have made no headway as the younger brother is now 31 while the elder one is 30, even as the Assembly polls are set to being in just weeks.

"From their age to their wage, you will find everything incorrect in their affidavit," charged Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, wondering how the brothers amassed their wealth in the last few years.

According to the affidavit submitted by Tejashwi, he had assets worth Rs 2.32 crore in 2015, when he served as the Deputy CM in the short-lived Grand Alliance government headed by Nitish Kumar (2015-2017). His assets have since ballooned to Rs 5.88 crore.

Meanwhile, Tej Pratap, who was Bihar's Health Minister in the same regime, saw a more modest growth in assets, from Rs 2.01 crore in 2015 to 2.83 crore in 2020.