Tej Pratap Yadav

Tej Pratap Yadav (born 16 April 1988) is an Indian politician. He was cabinet minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the Government of Bihar.
He is the elder son of former Chief Ministers of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.

Early life and education

Tej Pratap Yadav was born on 16 April 1988 in Gopalganj, Bihar. He is the elder son among the seven daughters and two sons of two former Chief Ministers of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi. His 7 sisters are Misa Bharti, Rohini, Chanda, Ragini, Hema, Anushka and Raj Lakshmi Yadav. Tejashwi Yadav is his younger brother.

He passed Intermediate from BSEB in 2010 as per the affidavit proposed by him in 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly Election.

Personal life

He married Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of Chandrika Rai and granddaughter of Bihar's former Chief Minister, Daroga Prasad Rai. He has been accused by his wife of beating her, using drugs, and cross-dressing. One of his grievances against his wife, according to the Times of India report, is that "she has not been able to adjust to his way of life."

On May 24, 2025, he publicly revealed his 12-year relationship with Anushka Yadav via Facebook. Yadav claimed that his account had been compromised, and the post was later removed. However, despite his 2018 marriage to Aishwarya Rai, which is still pending in the family court, it is thought that he has been with Anushka for the past 12 years and that the two are already married, based on a number of widely circulated photos and other sources.

In a post on X the next day, his father, Lalu Yadav, declared that he was expelled from his family and the party.

Political career

He became a Cabinet Minister of Health in Nitish Kumar's government from November 2015 until July 2017. In December 2015, as the Environment Minister of Bihar, he promoted horse-riding as an initiative to curb pollution in the state.

The marital discord between Yadav and Aishwarya Roy, daughter of Chandrika Roy, resulted into political "subplot in fight for Parsa seat" of Bihar Assembly, in 2020. Aishwarya also urged the public to vote for CM Nitish Kumar, who is a key political rival of her husband's family.

Tej Pratap Yadav was officially removed from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for six years over irresponsible behaviour and failing to conform to probity and family values by RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav on 25 May 2025.

Controversies

On May 24, 2025, Tej Pratap Yadav posted a photo on Facebook with a woman named Anushka Yadav, claiming they had been in a romantic relationship for 12 years. The post quickly went viral, sparking public backlash and internal party tensions. The following day, Lalu Prasad Yadav announced his son's expulsion from the RJD for six years and severed familial ties, citing that Tej Pratap's public behavior contradicted the moral values upheld by the party and the family. Tej Pratap later claimed that his Facebook account had been hacked and that the post was part of a conspiracy to defame him.

Holi Incident Involving Police Officer

On March 14, 2025, during Holi celebrations at his official residence in Patna, Tej Pratap Yadav was recorded instructing his bodyguard, Constable Deepak Kumar, to dance to a song, threatening suspension if he refused. In the video, Yadav is heard saying; "Ae sipahi, Deepak, ek gana bajayenge uspe tumko thumka lagana hai. Bura mat mano Holi hai. Aaj nahi thumka lagaoge toh suspend kar diye jaoge." ()

The incident sparked widespread criticism, with opposition parties accusing Yadav of abusing his position and disrespecting the police force. JDU national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan commented that such behavior reflects a return to the 'Jungle Raj' era in Bihar.

Tej Pratap threatens PM Modi over Lalu’s security downgrade

In 2017, Tej Pratap Yadav threatened to skin Prime Minister Narendra Modi alive after Lalu Prasad's security was downgraded from Z+ to Z. Lalu defended his son over this. On the last day of voting in the 2019 general elections, a video of an alleged assault on a video journalist by his bodyguards went viral, while Yadav lodged an FIR calling it a conspiracy to kill him.

YouTube career

Tej Pratap Yadav also runs a YouTube vlog channel called "L-R vlog" in which he shares his daily life and travel videos. Recently, his channel crossed 1 lakh subscribers. To celebrate 1 lakh subscribers milestone, a hoarding featuring Yadav was cropped up in Bihar's capital Patna. The hoarding was a “Thank You” to the 1 lakh subscribers of his vlog channel, while also urging people to subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Tej Pratap
Living people
Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians
Bihar MLAs 2015–2020
Tej Pratap
1988 births
Bihar MLAs 2020–2025
Health ministers of Bihar