Lalu plays down age row of his sons, says no error in details

Patna: Unfazed by the controversy over the age discrepancy in the affidavits of his two sons, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad said that what was mentioned in the voter card was final.

"They have mentioned their age in the affidavit as it is given in their voter identity card. Age in voter card is final. If age is written as 80 on the voter ID it will be final and has to be mentioned in the nomination papers," the RJD said.

"They are making unnecessary controversy about the issue," he said in an apparent dig at the BJP.

The affidavit filed by his younger son Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, who is contesting from the Raghopur assembly seat in Vaishali district, shows his age as 26 years. Like his father, he too took recourse to the voter card logic and said, "One has to enter the age as is written in voter ID," Tejaswi Yadav said.

"There might be a printing error in the voter ID," he said and asked, "What's so big about it?"

Meanwhile, the affidavit filed by the RJD chief's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav while submitting his nomination from the Mahua Assembly seat in Vaishali district shows his age as 25 years.

Raking up the issue, BJP state President Mangal Pandey requested the Election Commission to take cognisance of the matter and probe the nomination papers submitted by Tejaswi Prasad Yadav. As Tejaswi is the younger brother, he should be younger than 25 years if his elder brother is 25 year old, he said.

Talking to reporters, Pandey also alleged that there was "some design" in mentioning Tejaswi Yadav's educational qualification as IX pass from Delhi Public School, R K Puram, Delhi.

"I am sure Tejaswi has studied above standard IX. Had standard X been mentioned in the nomination, the board certificate would have revealed his true age," Pandey alleged. BJP General Secretary and In-charge of Bihar Bhupendra Yadav took a potshot at the RJD chief saying, "When he cannot keep his house in order, how will he take care of the state?"

LJP Parliamentary Board chief and MP Chirag Paswan said, "The jungle raj during RJD was so pervading that they registered their age according to their own free will."