Lalu's family feud takes a new turn with Tej Pratap's police complaint

The feud in the Yadav family in Bihar took a new turn when Tej Pratap Yadav, the rebel son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad, lodged a complaint with the Bihar police that he had received an anonymous death threat. He claimed the caller, who identified himself as a leader of the RJD student wing that Tej Pratap quit last week, had threatened him and his assistant with dire consequences. Tej Pratap has recently launched a new political front honouring his parents, calling it the “'Lalu-Rabri Morcha”, and has threatened to field separate candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.

Amma priorities

At an election rally in Thoothukudi on Tuesday where Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader E Palaniswami and other leaders owing allegiance to the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the state had gathered to address locals, supporters had also flocked in large numbers to show their loyalty to their leaders. One such loyalist was seen sporting five huge gold rings. Besides pictures of various deities, two of the rings had pictures of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa engraved on them. He happily posed for shutterbugs and let it be known where his allegiance lay.

Struggle for candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party are struggling to identify suitable candidates from Bhopal and Indore respectively. After Digvijaya Singh was named the Congress candidate from Bhopal, the BJP is hesitant to name its candidate from the seat, which is considered one of the safest for the party. Chief Minister Kamal Nath took a jibe and urged the BJP to put out an advertisement to find a suitable candidate. The Congress is facing a similar predicament in Indore, another saffron bastion. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is an eight-time Member of Parliament from the seat and the Congress is yet to name a candidate from that seat. Singh had been offered Indore earlier but he preferred Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Jitu Patwari has evinced interest but due to the Congress’ thin majority in the Assembly, the party is in no mood to take chances.