PATNA: The doting mother that she is, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi explodes whenever she senses an effort to belittle the achievements and desirability of her younger son, Tejashwi Yadav, 29, the former deputy chief minister.
When Tejashwi’s supposed status as one of Bihar’s “most eligible bachelors” came under attack from road construction minister and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, Devi sought to turn it into an emotive political issue. After all, Tejashwi is the heir apparent of his jailed father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who has made it clear that the young politician, a first-time MLA, will be RJD’s chief ministerial candidate in Bihar’s 2020 Assembly polls.
When Tejashwi served as deputy chief minister and also the road construction minister in the erstwhile 20-month grand alliance government, it was claimed that as many as 44,000 proposals were received from young girls in Bihar wishing to marry him.
To make it easy for Bihar’s people to report about bad condition of roads, Tejashwi had made public a WhatsApp number (9470001346) in June 2016. The move was used by RJD to project him as a techno-savvy and people-friendly leader. It was claimed that 44,000 of the 47,000 messages received on that number were from young girls praising him and wishing to marry him.
Strangely, the issue came up in the Assembly when Nand Kishore Yadav was replying to a question on budgetary demands for 2018-19 on Monday. “I got the entire matter checked. Not even a single marriage proposal had come on the WhatsApp number, forget about the claim about more than 40,000 proposals,” he said, sparking protests from RJD legislators, who soon walked out.
“The proposals had indeed come. By saying that it was a lie, Nand Kishore Yadav has tried to insult Bihar’s daughters,” fumed Rabri Devi when journalists sought her response on the issue on Tuesday. “Tejashwi’s wedding will be a very grand affair,” she added.
While Nand Kishore Yadav said in the Assembly that there was “no ill intention” behind his mention of the matter, Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary asked him: “If there was no ill intention, why did you say it?” The minister’s reply – “We want Tejashwi to get married in time so that he does not stray” – left the House in peals of laughter. Tejashwi was not present there at the time.