Tej Pratap Yadav says won’t return home till family backs divorce; 11-day puja performed

RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son and MLA Tej Pratap Yadav, who is currently staying in Haridwar, on Friday said he would not return home till his family backed his decision to divorce his wife Aishwarya Rai.

“Our differences are irreconcilable. I had said this to my parents before the marriage was solemnized. But nobody listened to me then and nobody is listening to me now. Until they agree with me, how can I return home?” Yadav told a regional news channel in Patna over phone.

Tej Pratap and Rai -- daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai and grandchild of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Prasad Rai -- had married on May 12.

On November 2, Tej Pratap Yadav filed a petition seeking divorce from his wife of six months citing incompatibility issues. The separation has been sought invoking Section 13 A of the Hindu Marriage Act under which either spouse can unilaterally seek divorce,

The RJD leader was last seen in Bodh Gaya on Saturday where he had checked in at a hotel after meeting his ailing father at a hospital in Ranchi.

Lalu Prasad is learnt to have been upset over his elder son’s decision to seek divorce. Prasad is serving sentences in a number of fodder scam cases. At present, he is lodged at a hospital in Ranchi on medical grounds.

Meanwhile, an 11-day puja was performed at the Maa Vindhyavasini Devi temple in Patna so that the family could overcome its current problems, a priest said on Friday.

Lalu Yadav's family members have immense faith in the goddess enshrined there and have been frequent visitors to the temple in eastern Uttar Pradesh, bordering Bihar, said priest Raj Mishra.

"A havan puja was held for 11 days to please the 'grah nakshatra' and for peace in the entire family," Mishra said.

(With PTI inputs)