Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad on Sunday expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for six years and snapped family ties with him, saying that his “irresponsible behaviour” was not in accordance with “our family values and tradition”.

In a post on X, Lalu admonished the former Bihar minister for his public conduct and said that ignoring “moral values in personal life” hampers the overall “struggle for social justice”.

“The activities, public conduct and irresponsible behaviour of the eldest son are not in accordance with our family values ​​and traditions. Therefore, due to the above circumstances, I remove him from the party and family. From now on, he will not have any role of any kind in the party and family. He is expelled from the party for 6 years,” he said.  

The move came a day after pictures of Yadav and a woman were shared on his official Facebook page with a post saying the two were in a relationship for 12 years. The post, which was deleted within hours, created a controversy as the 37-year-old and Aishwarya Rai, the granddaughter of former Bihar chief minister Daroga Rai, got married in 2018. However, the marriage appeared to fall apart within months, and their divorce petition was pending before a family court in Patna.

 On Saturday, Yadav said on X that his social media platforms were hacked and his pictures were “wrongly edited to harass and defame me and my family members”. HT reached out to him for a reaction after Lalu’s announcement but did not get one immediately.

The expulsion is considered a part of RJD’s attempt to counter criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) ahead of the assembly polls due later this year.

Known for his mercurial temperament, eccentric behaviour and controversial statements, Yadav has had run-ins with senior party leaders, including state president Jagdanand Singh, who is considered a Lalu loyalist and the political mentor of his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav. There have also been murmurs that he has had reservations against Tejashwi’s growing stature within the party, although publicly the two have always backed each other.  

Tejashwi, who has served as Bihar’s deputy CM, sided with Lalu’s decision.

“My elder brother is an adult. He is free to make any choice in his personal life. But there are certain things we cannot tolerate. And this is what our national president has said in his post,” the leader of the opposition in the state assembly said.

In his post, Lalu added that Yadav is capable of seeing the merits and demerits of his personal choices. “All those who will have relations with him should take their own decisions. I have always been an advocate of public shame in public life. The obedient members of the family have adopted and followed this idea in public life,” he said.

RJD leader and Yadav’s sister Rohini Acharya also backed her father’s move.

“Those who abandon their wisdom and repeatedly commit the mistake of crossing the limits of decent conduct and family prestige, they make themselves the subject of criticism,” she said.

RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said the party is committed to the principles and ideology of social justice. “The decision taken by our party president only indicates how our party does not allow any irresponsible behaviour by any party leader or cadre.”

JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said Yadav’s expulsion was a mere sham. “Where  did Lalu’s own conscience go when granddaughter of former chief minister Daroga Rai was thrown out of their residence? Now, he has sensitive and talking of conscience.”

BJP leader Nikhil Anand said Yadav should have made his relationship public before getting married. “He should seek an apology for this behaviour from the family of Aishwarya Rai,” he said.