In Bihar,son rise on a different horizon – cricket,films

Former Bihar chief ministers,Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi,too,have not talked of bringing their sons,Tej Pratap and Tejaswi,both passionate cricketers,into politics. Tej Pratap was among the 21 members of IPL’s Delhi Daredevils team last season. It is a different thing that the “prince of Phulwaria” did not get any chance to showcase his willow power during the tournament.

Among the seven daughters of Lalu and Rabri,Misa Bharati,Chanda and Rohini Acharya are married. None of them has shown any keenness on entering politics.

Tej Pratap,19,and Tejaswi,17,are perhaps too young to think about politics. An RJD leader said: “Lalu Prasad Yadav will be there for a long time. Their sons are young. Lalu had once introduced his eldest son Tej Pratap to his supporters during a rally at Gandhi Maidan. The masses immediately got the message and called him ‘yuvraj’. But since then,Lalu has kept his sons away from politics.”

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan recently made news when he gave a ticket to filmmaker Prakash Jha from West Champaran. Now,his rivals are claiming he took this decision to “further the Bollywood career” of his aspiring actor son Chirag. Paswan and Jha might have rubbished the “deal”,but it won’t come as a surprise to anyone if Chirag,already working in three films,gets a Jha film as well. Chirag,in his early 20s,has earned praises from Jha for his “stunning looks”.

Paswan,too,had once introduced Chirag to a gathering in Patna,but it hardly had any political connotation. According to sources,Paswan is happy to see his son on silver-screen. As for holding political turf,Paswan’s younger brothers — Ramchandra and Pasupati Paras — have been there with him since a long time.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi,too,does not have any political ambitions for his sons. While the eldest son,Utkarsh Tathagat,is an engineering student in Bangalore,the younger one,Akshay Mritanshu,is studying in class 12th in Patna. Modi says,“My sons are free to choose their trade.”