The RJD is yet to make an announcement but the photo of Tej Pratap Yadav’s wife on posters has triggered rumours.
New Delhi: Posters of Aishwarya Rai around Bihar have triggered speculation of an imminent political debut in 2019, but read on before you begin to root for the former Miss World as Prime Minister.
Aishwarya Rai, a namesake of the Bollywood star, is the wife of former state minister Tej Pratap Yadav and daughter-in-law of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, who is currently in jail for corruption.
Thursday, 5 July, marked the 22nd foundation day of the Bihar-based party, and posters put up in the run-up to the event featured Aishwarya along with mother-in-law Rabri Devi, former Bihar chief minister, and sister-in-law Misa Bharati, a Rajya Sabha member.
However, no official announcement has been made so far about Aishwarya’s launch in next year’s Lok Sabha election.
The poster, interestingly, also talks about Tej Pratap’s younger brother, former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, being portrayed as the chief ministerial candidate for Bihar in 2020.
Aishwarya is the daughter of senior RJD leader Chandrika Rai, a six-time MLA from the Parsa constituency. Her grandfather Daroga Prasad Rai, a Congress leader, served as Bihar chief minister for 11 months in 1970.
Asked about the speculation, RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said, “What if she has decided to join politics? Aishwarya is educated and belongs to a political family. Her father Chandrika Rai is a former minister and senior RJD leader while her grandfather was the chief minister in the 1970s.”
“She is most suitable for politics,” he added.
Aishwarya got married to Tej, the legislator for Bihar’s Mahua assembly constituency, in May this year. While Tej didn’t pursue studies beyond Class XII, Aishwarya holds a master’s degree and pursued her bachelor’s at Delhi University’s prestigious Miranda House.