Agencies
In less than 10 months after Rabri Devi declared she was bride hunting for her two sons, the Lalu Yadav household seems to have found a match for elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. The 30-year-old is set to marry Aishwarya Roy, who also hails from a political family in Bihar.
Aishwarya Roy, a history graduate from Delhi University, is the daughter of six-time Rashtriya Janata Party lawmaker Chandrika Roy and a cabinet colleague of Lalu Yadav in many governments. Grandfather Daroga Prasad Roy was a veteran Congress leader and even Chief Minister for about 11 months in 1970; Bihar's first chief minister from the dominant Yadav community.
The engagement ceremony will be held later this month but the marriage will take place only next monthThe venue for the marriage is Patna's Veterinary college grounds, the same place opted by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi for his son's marriage after threats from Tej Pratap Yadav.
"If I attend, I will enter his house and beat him up. If I go to his son's marriage, I will expose him," Tej Pratap Yadav had promised in November. He had later retracted the threat. Sushil Modi, however, had by then shifted the venue to the college grounds closer home.
Tej Pratap had skipped the wedding but Lalu Yadav took a break from politics and made it point to be at the no-frills marriage, offering his best wishes to Mr Modi. Tej Pratap had turned to social media to tweet his best wishes for the Modi family and son Utkarsh Modi. The RJD leader had also requested "Modi uncle to find a bride for me as well".
The deputy chief minister tweeted back that he was ready if Tej Pratap met three conditions.
"No dowry, pledge organ donation and no threatening to disrupt any marriage," Mr Modi said.
It is not clear if Mr Modi had any role to play. Because Rabri Devi had her own conditions.
Rabri Devi had told reporters that they want daughters-in-law who "will respect them, abstain from trips to the mall, and run the house smoothly". That set of conditions had triggered a mild controversy but Lalu Yadav had moved quickly, explaining her seemingly regressive remarks to mean something very different.
"Sanskari bahu doesn't mean veiled, home bound, dependent lady. It means strong willed, loving, caring lady, whthr (whether) working women or housewife (sic)," he wrote on Twitter.
The marriage ceremony next month gives Lalu Yadav, who is serving a 14-term and was recently brought to AIIMS in Delhi for treatment and check-up, enough time to seek parole to join the family for the wedding.
COMMENTSThere is no word on younger son and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav's plans.
All that Tejashwi Yadav had outed last month was that he would let "my elder brothers in politics first" tie the knot first. The former cricketer also added that when he does marry, his parents will choose the bride.
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