As the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ rolls through Bihar amid a political slugfest over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday engaged in some light-hearted banter with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav over his marriage.
At a press conference in Araria district, Yadav, who had just advised Union Minister Chirag Paswan to “get married” while mocking his self-proclaimed image as “Hanuman” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, added with a smile, “It is high time. I would only advise him to get married.”
“I can pay Chirag Paswan back in the same coin, make fun of his claims of being a Hanuman of, not even a party, but an individual,” he said.
Gandhi, whom Yadav calls bade bhai during the march, grabbed the microphone and quipped: “The advice is applicable to me as well. Talks are on with his father.”
Triggering laughter from the crowd, Yadav, 35, added, “I would not like to join issue with Chirag Paswan whom I consider an elder brother. I would only advise him to get married. It is high time”.
Two years ago, RJD chief Lalu Prasad had publicly nudged Gandhi towards marriage, saying it was Sonia Gandhi’s “fervent wish” to see her son as a groom and join his wedding procession. The remark was made at a press conference in Patna alongside Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He had said: “We would urge Rahul Gandhi to get married. It has been a fervent wish of his mother (Sonia Gandhi). We want to see him as ‘dulha‘ (groom) and join the ‘baraat‘ (wedding procession)”.
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The ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, modelled on Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay yatras, would pass through 23 districts, covering 50 Assembly segments in 29 Lok Sabha constituencies across several regions of the state before culminating in a mega public meeting in Patna on September 1.
(With PTI inputs)
