Ex-RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav makes derogatory remark against Tejashwi’s wife

Former RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav, who had burnt his bridges with the party, on Sunday stoked a controversy with a disparaging remark about de facto leader Tejashwi Yadav’s wife.

A purported video has gone viral in which the ex-MLA can be heard as saying, “Tejashwi Yadav seeks the votes of Yadavs of Bihar, but he did not deem a girl from the community to be fit to become his wife. Perhaps he was looking for a jersey cattle.”

PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video clip.

Tejashwi Yadav has two children with Rajshree of Chandigarh, whom he married four years ago.

The remark has triggered outrage from the party rank and file. An effigy of Raj Ballabh Yadav was burnt at Sadbhavna Chowk of Nawada by RJD women’s wing workers, led by district president Renu Singh.

“It is evident that Raj Ballabh Yadav is following in the footsteps of Narendra Modi, who had infamously used foul language against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,” alleged Singh.

Raj Ballabh Yadav, whose wife Vibha Devi, the sitting MLA from Nawada, was seen at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally at Gaya last month, had recently walked out of jail following acquittal by the Patna High Court in a POCSO case.

Singh also said, “Rajshree Yadav is a simple woman who stays away from politics. Yet she has been targeted in a public speech. The former MLA may have once been with the RJD, but now he seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of the BJP-RSS. He deserves to be sent back to jail. In the days to come, our campaign against him is going to intensify.”

An old associate of Tejashwi Yadav’s father and RJD president Lalu Prasad, Raj Ballabh Yadav grew sore with the party leadership when his brother Binod Yadav was denied a ticket in last year’s Lok Sabha elections.