Tej Pratap Yadav Flays Paswan for Remark against Rabri Devi

Yadav posted a cartoon on twitter where Paswan has been depicted as Mahishasura being slain by Goddess Durga.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav on Tuesday, 15 January, warned Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan to get ready to be taught a lesson by his mother Rabri Devi for his recent barb against her.

At a press conference last week, Paswan had criticized the RJD for its opposition to the upper caste quota and alleged that the party founded and headed by Lalu Prasad believed only in raising slogans and making an aangootha chap (illiterate, using thumb impression in place of signature) the Chief Minister.

Although Paswan did not take Rabri Devi’s name, his remarks were seen as a reference to the events of 1997 when RJD chief Lalu Prasad had to step down as Bihar chief minister as he faced arrest in the fodder scam cases and his wife, Rabri Devi, who has little formal education, was appointed as his successor.

Yadav, the elder son of Prasad and Rabri Devi took to the micro-blogging site twitter for venting his ire at Paswan who, incidentally, was an RJD ally before he joined the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav shared a cartoon on his official twitter handle wherein Paswan has been depicted as mythical demon Mahishasura being slain by his mother as Goddess Durga riding a lion depicting Tej Pratap himself.

“A woman gives birth, motherly affection and also forgives mistakes. But history is witness that those insulting a woman, even big demons like Ravana and Duryodhana, were vanquished, what to say of these opportunistic politicians”, Yadav tweeted in Hindi by way of a caption.

Notably, Paswan’s comments had drawn flak from his own daughter Asha who had said that she felt hurt by the remarks as her own mother was illiterate. Married to Anil Sadhu, an RJD leader Asha who is Paswan’s daughter from his first marriage, had also staged a dharna demanding that the LJP chief apologize for the remarks.

Members of Lalu Prasad’s family had, so far, refrained from commenting on Paswan’s remark against the former chief minister Rabri Devi, who is at present the leader of the opposition in the state legislative council.