Tej Pratap to contest Bihar polls from Mahua as his party names candidates for 21 seats

Patna, Oct 13 (PTI) RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav will contest the Bihar elections from Mahua as his newly-floated party, Janshakti Janta Dal (JJD), announced candidates for 21 seats on Monday.

Yadav, a former minister in the state government, floated the party after his father expelled him from the RJD in May.

"Our national president, Tej Pratap Yadav, will contest the assembly elections from the Mahua constituency in Vaishali district," JJD state chief Madan Yadav said, releasing the names of candidates for 21 seats.

Yadav had represented the Mahua seat till 2020 when RJD shifted him to Hasanpur.

The JJD fielded Sanjay Yadav in Madhepura, Taurif Rahman in Narkatiaganj, Dharmendra in Barauli, and Braj Bihari Bhatt in Kuchaikot, among others.

Yadav was expelled from the RJD for six years, a day after he "confessed" on social media to being "in a relationship" with a woman named Anushka. He, however, deleted the post later, claiming that his account was "hacked".

Prasad also disowned him, due to his "irresponsible behaviour".

A few days after his expulsion, Yadav had alleged that there was a "conspiracy" to drive a wedge between him and his younger brother, Tejashwi Yadav.

His expulsion came barely a few months ahead of the assembly polls, which the RJD is fighting under the leadership of Tejashwi.

The two brothers are among the four of the nine siblings active in politics. PTI PKD SOM