Days after announcing his decision to contest the Bihar Assembly elections as an Independent candidate, Tej Pratap Yadav, the estranged elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad, launched a sharp attack against his former party over the alleged actions of an RJD MLA.Since his expulsion from the RJD in May, over a now-deleted photo with a woman allegedly posted on his Facebook profile, Tej Pratap’s tone towards his former party has shifted from reconciliatory to adversarial.AdvertisementIn a social media post on Monday, Yadav questioned the RJD’s silence over senior MLA Bhai Virendra allegedly threatening to beat a panchayat secretary, accusing the party leadership of “selective action”.“Kya RJD apne vidhayak Bhai Virendra par bhi karwai karegi, jinhonete Baba Saheb Ambedkar ke adarshon ke ullat SC-ST samaj ke khilaf sharmnaak tipanni ki, jaan se maarne ki dhamki di? Mujhe to Jaichandon ki saazish ke tahat party se bahar kar diya gaya… Ab dekhna hai ki bawaal karne waalon par bhi party utni hi sakhti dikhayegi ya nahin (Will the RJD also take action against its own MLA Bhai Virendra, who, defying the ideals of B R Ambedkar, made a shameful remark against the Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe community and issued death threats? I was expelled from the party as part of a conspiracy by ‘Jaichands (traitors)’… Now let’s see if the party shows the same strictness towards those creating trouble, or not),” Tej Pratap said on X.The former RJD leader was commenting on the controversy surrounding Virendra, a four-time MLA from Maner and close aide of Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav, over a viral audio of him threatening to “beat with a shoe” a local panchayat secretary.Advertisement“Kahan, England ka hai tum? Maner ke vidhayak ko nahi jaanta hai tum?… Hindustan jaanta hai aur tu keh raha hai ki Bhai Virendra kaun hai, nahin jaante hain (Where are you from, England? Don’t you know the MLA of Maner?… India knows who Bhai Virendra is, and you say you don’t know who Bhai Virendra is?),” the RJD MLA was purportedly heard saying to Sandeep Kumar, Secretary of the Battun Panchayat, during a call on July 26.An FIR was subsequently registered on a complaint by Kumar on Monday, including under sections of the SC/ST Act. In a Facebook post on Monday, Virendra admitted to using “strong language” but blamed the panchayat official for being disrespectful.The fresh salvo by Tej Pratap comes nearly two months after he was expelled from the RJD by his father Lalu Prasad. In a statement on May 25, Lalu had cited “irresponsible behaviour” and “deviation from the family’s moral values” as the reasons behind the action.“Ignoring moral values in personal life weakens our collective struggle for social justice,” Lalu had said, adding his elder son’s conduct was “not in accordance with family values and traditions.”The decision had come a day after Tej Pratap allegedly shared a now-deleted Facebook post – a photo with a woman and a claim they had been “in a relationship for 12 years”. Tej Pratap later denied making the post, claiming his social media account had been “hacked”.In the immediate aftermath of the expulsion, Tej Pratap had struck an emotional tone, publicly appealing to his parents for support. “My dear Mummy and Papa, I only need your trust and love, nothing else,” he had said. “Papa, if not for you, neither this party nor the greedy, betraying people in politics around me would exist. I just want both of you to remain healthy and happy always.”In another post, Tej Pratap had likened himself to “Krishna” and referred to his younger brother Tejashwi as “Arjuna”, urging him to be wary of “conspirators” within the party.However, his tone has shifted significantly in the weeks since. “Those who mistake my silence for weakness, do not think that I am unaware of your conspiracies… My role will not be decided by any party or family. It will be decided by the people and the Supreme Court,” he said in a social media post in June.In a symbolic move, Tej Pratap recently swapped his signature green Gandhi cap, historically associated with the RJD, for a yellow one.most readWhile a rift between Tej Pratap and his younger brother Tejashwi has been a matter of quiet speculation for years, party insiders noted that Tej Pratap, a former Bihar Cabinet minister, had grown increasingly uncomfortable with Tejashwi’s political ascendancy.Tejashwi, however, has largely avoided a public confrontation with Tej Pratap though he had backed the decision to expel him. “Personal and public life are two different things. My brother is an adult and free to make decisions about his personal life,” Tejashwi had said.Tej Pratap, the sitting Hasanpur MLA, earlier announced that he would contest the forthcoming Bihar Assembly polls from the Mahua constituency, a seat he had represented after winning his debut election in 2015. “Yes, this time I will contest from Mahua as an Independent candidate. My opponents must already be uneasy,” he said.