Lalu wishes Tejashwi on b’day; says Bihar will give him gift on counting day

RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav celebrates his birthday with family members in Patna. PTI photo

Patna, November 9

RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who is serving a jail term in Ranchi in fodder scam cases, Monday wished his younger son Tejashwi Yadav on his 31st birthday, saying the people of Bihar will give him a gift on Tuesday, when state election results are announced.

Counting of votes in the Bihar polls will take place on November 10. Almost all the exit polls have predicted a win for the RJD-led Grand Alliance, which has projected Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate.

Sources close to the family said Tejashwi called Prasad’s helper’s number a couple of times around 12 am to speak to his father but he had gone to sleep by that time.

The young RJD leader again called the number at 6 am Monday but could not speak, the sources added.

As soon as Prasad woke up, he called back and wished Tejashwi on his birthday, the sources said.

“Tohfa to Bihar ki janta kal degi, (The people of Bihar will give you a birthday gift tomorrow),” Prasad told Tejashwi, according to a source close to the family.

Lalu Prasad is currently undergoing treatment at Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for various ailments.

Addressing an election rally in Hisua in Nawada district on October 23, Tejashwi had said his father will come out of jail on his birthday on November 9 after securing bail in a fodder scam case, and incumbent Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will have his farewell the next day.

However, Prasad could not secure bail as the Jharkhand High Court Friday deferred the hearing on his application till November 27 after the CBI sought time to file a written reply in the case.

Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi have nine children. Besides Tejashwi, his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav and sister Misa Bharti are also active in politics.

The RJD supremo, who has been debarred from contesting elections after his conviction in fodder scam cases, had chosen Tejashwi as his heir by anointing him as deputy chief minister in the 2015 Grand Alliance government headed by then ally Nitish Kumar. --- PTI