Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Lalu’s estranged daughter-in-law seeks votes for rival Nitish Kumar - Hindustan Times
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Bihar Assembly Election 2020: Lalu’s estranged daughter-in-law seeks votes for rival Nitish Kumar

Hindustan Times, Patna | ByReena
Oct 22, 2020 05:11 PM IST

On Wednesday, Aishwarya Rai attended a public meeting at Parsa, an assembly constituency and a part of the Saran Lok Sabha seat, and urged the public to vote for Kumar to make him the CM for the fourth time

Aishwarya Rai, the estranged wife of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar chief minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son, Tej Pratap Yadav, has turned the political tables.

Patna, India - October 21, 2020: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses the gathering during an election campaign rally in Saran, Bihar, India, on Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020. (Photo by Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)
Patna, India - October 21, 2020: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses the gathering during an election campaign rally in Saran, Bihar, India, on Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020. (Photo by Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

She is seeking votes for outgoing Bihar CM and the Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar in the upcoming three-phase assembly polls.

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Kumar is the biggest rival of the RJD in poll-bound Bihar.

On Wednesday, she attended a public meeting at Parsa, an assembly constituency and a part of the Saran Lok Sabha seat, and urged the public to vote for Kumar to make him the CM for the fourth time.

Her father, Chandrika Rai, is contesting from Parsa on a JD (U) ticket and CM Kumar was by his side to lend support to the veteran politician, who had quit the RJD for the ruling party in the run up to the assembly polls.

“I will also be among you very soon. But this time, vote for my father and for Nitish Kumar ji,” Aishwarya said from the dias at Parsa.

Aishwarya said she is the daughter of Parsa and would like to seek the blessings of the voters.

CM Kumar, too, spoke largely about Aishwarya, when his turn came to address the voters at the public meeting. He singled out her alleged ill-treatment by the RJD chief’s kin.

“She was treated very badly. It’s an insult to the entire women folk,” he said. He said that Mother Nature would give a fitting reply to her insult and humiliation.

Aishwarya had made a pretty picture at her wedding ceremony in 2018, which had turned out to be a show of political strength for the RJD’s first family in capricious Bihar politics.

It was dubbed as the wedding of 2018, which was attended by leaders cutting across party lines, including CM Kumar and deputy CM Sushil Modi, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar.

The wedding was considered as the union of two big political families, of Daroga Prasad Rai, the former Bihar CM and grandfather of Aishwarya and the father of Chandrika, and Lalu Prasad Yadav, another former CM and the father of Tej Pratap.

Experts had predicted the marital union, as the beginning of a new chapter in Bihar’s political journey.

But, the euphoria proved to be short-lived, as Tej Pratap got separated from his wife Aishwarya six months after the wedding.

He had filed a divorce plea in a court. Aishwarya had also alleged domestic violence, physical and mental torture by her in-laws and registered a case against them.

Chandrika, who had bristled at her daughter Aishwarya’s alleged humiliation by Lalu Prasad’s kin, snapped ties with the RJD after an association that spanned over three decades and decided to hitch a ride with the ruling JD (U).

He was a three-term RJD member of the Bihar legislative assembly (MLA) from Parsa.

The 243-member Bihar legislative assembly will go to polls on October 28, November 3 and 7.

The results will be declared on November 10.

Watch an interesting conversation with Indian politician & former Union Minister of State, Milind Deora. HT’s senior journalist Kumkum Chadha talks to him about his life in politics & beyond. Watch Now!
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