New Delhi:
A day after Tej Pratap Yadav filed for a divorce in the Patna civil court, the elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday said he was a simpleton who was forced to marry the "urbane" Aishwarya Rai against his wishes and had been living a "stifled life" since then.
The couple had tied the knot here on May 12 this year. The RJD chief had acquired bail to attend the wedding in Patna. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan were among others who attended the grand wedding.
Asked about his decision at a time when his father is in poor health, Tej said: "It is true. I have filed for divorce. I'm North Pole and she's South Pole. There have been fights between me and my wife in front of my parents. I don't want to live with her anymore. Ghut ghut ke jeene se toh koi fayeda nahi hai (no point being unhappy and stressed)," he said.
He also said he has not been on talking terms with his wife for the past couple of months.
His lawyer Yashwant Kumar Sharma said Friday that the former Bihar minister had sought divorce on compatibility issues.
Who is Tej Pratap Yadav?
# Tej Pratap Yadav is a former health minister of Bihar and the elder of former chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.
# He is the brother of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the former deputy chief minister of Bihar.
# Tej Pratap Yadav was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Mahua constituency as a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 2015.
# In a major embarrassment, Tej Pratap was interrupted twice by Governor Ram Nath Kovind and asked to repeat his oath after he mispronounced a word during the swearing-in ceremony of the state’s new cabinet. “It’s apekshit, not upekshit,” Kovind told the 28-year-old MLA, as he had to read his script twice.
# He became cabinet minister in Nitish Kumar's government from November 2015 till July 2017.
# He dropped out of school after failing the Class 12 board examination.
# Known to be deeply religious, Tej Pratap was in limelight for non-political purposes.
# In the 2015 election affidavit, Tej Pratap declared total assets of Rs 2.01 crore (Immoveable: Rs 88.72 lakh; moveable Rs 1.49 crore). This includes a Honda CBR1000RR motorcycle and a BMW car.
Who is Aishwarya Rai?
# Aishwarya Rai is the daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai. Her grandfather Daroga Rai was the chief minister of Bihar in the 1960s.
# Aishwarya passed out from Patna’s Notre Dame school and Delhi University.
# She also received an MBA from Amity University in Noida. She is the eldest of three children. Her brother Apurva is pursuing a law degree, while her sister Aayushi is an engineer.
(With PTI inputs)
