It is only fitting that the top stars of regional showbiz arrive on ‘Bhojpuri Bawal’, a show focusing on the lives of famous people. Politician Tej Pratap Yadav has also taken to it, and this is the latest in his parallel world as a social media phenomenon, in which he embraces all tastes yet condemns worldliness. “This is my authentic self,” he says.
A former minister of Bihar and current president of his own party which has zero seats in the assembly, Tej Pratap Yadav Being followed around is nothing new. Be it as the eldest son of veteran socialist leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, or as a vlogger with various avatars, “Teju Bhaiya”, as his followers call him, has a lot of people going for him.
Plus, he’s a mall-hopping guy who likes big cars, he’s a spiritually minded person who shares daily thoughts, and a Ghost Buster Chasing the supernatural among the tall trees behind his bungalow.
Singers and actors Pawan Singh, Nirahua and Amrapali Dubey are among those who will compete for attention with Tej Pratap in the reality show to be aired in June.
The format is simple: follow the participants in their daily lives with no tasks, no eliminations, and no manufactured drama. The promo on JioHotstar Reality and their Instagram page shows Tej Pratap sitting on a throne-like chair with a high back. The caption read: “Coming to collect people’s love, entertainment is limitless” (Coming to collect people’s love, entertain without limits.)
For Tej Pratap, social media, and now its expansion through the show, comes at a time when he is ostracized from his father’s party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), over a personal relationship the family has not approved of. Some snow has melted there, but the distance remains.
Yet his social-media follower count, at over 30 lakh across all platforms, is hundreds of times more than the 35,000 votes he got in last year’s elections when the BJP and JD(U)’s NDA retained power in the state.
He has said about his online persona, “The media only shows fights and politics. But what I eat, how I live, how I interact with people in villages – that’s what my vlogs are. The public loves this authentic, simple version of me.”
Undeterred by the defeat in the voting, his new Instagram page quietly appeared in March 2026: @santejpratapyadav. Saffron clothes. Rudraksha rosary. Videos about Lord Shiva, the meaning of the sacred ashes and the impermanence of all worldly things. Tej Pratap was simply continuing his digital folklore which started around 2015, and hasn’t stopped since then.
Meanwhile his politics is taking a turn
Their two worlds collided when, in May 2025, a post appeared on Tej Pratap’s verified Facebook page, featuring his photo with a woman and claiming a 12-year relationship. Since Tej Pratap was in the middle of an awkward divorce, the post went viral within hours.
He first claimed that his account had been hacked and the photos had been inappropriately edited. The next day, Lalu Yadav announced his expulsion from RJD for six years citing “activities, public conduct and irresponsible behaviour”. A month later, Tej Pratap admitted that he had created the post himself and had removed it due to intense family pressure. He also talked about heartbreak.
He formed the Janashakti Janata Dal (JJD) in September 2025 and contested the Bihar Assembly elections from Mahua, where he stood third.
In late May 2026, during a visit to the Vindhyavasini temple in Mirzapur, he told reporters that Yogi Adityanath and the BJP would win the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections, even hinting at a possible alliance with the saffron party. But this is just the political side of the coin.
He also clarified there: “I have not come here for politics. I have come to make a vlog at Devi’s residence. These days, the public does not watch TV media; everyone is watching my content on their mobiles.”
She added a like-share-subscribe appeal: “If you want to see my real lifestyle, come visit my social media handles.”
‘Hello Friends’
Politics barely touches one or two feeds directly on his social media handles. On X (formerly Twitter), he has 1.7 million followers as of May 29, 2026 and this register remains mostly political, even combative. Same is the case with his official Facebook page also.
Instagram hosts his main lifestyle page and a new ‘Saint’ page.
However, this is the closest she’s come to becoming a reality TV star’TY Vlogs‘, and its predecessor ‘LR Vlog’ – the initials stand for his parents, Lalu and Rabri.
These channels give an unpublished glimpse of his world. In one video, he takes viewers on a tour of his family’s residential compound and stops by the shed where cattle feed is kept. Like his father, he moves between being an elite politician and a traditional milkman.
Sitting on a low wooden stool to hand-milk a new cow, he tells his videographer: “Hey, get the angle right! Turn the camera this way, then the public will see the real cow service!” (Take the right angle! Turn the camera this way, only then the public will see the real cow service!)
Other videos document a train journey in Tejas Express, where he presses the call button for an attendant and reviews his catered food in the style of a professional food influencer. Then there is a long interrogation of an ice cream seller.
“What flavors do you have? Is it choco-bar?” (‘What flavors do you have? Do you have choco-bar?’) Tej Pratap speaks to the clearly startled salesman in his trademark drawl, the same as his opening lines – “Hello friends”, “Hello friends!” – in typical dominant-dialect.
Refusing to buy even a single stick on the roadside, he orders the vendor, “Come on, take the whole cart inside the bungalow!” Asking to take the entire car to his house. A few minutes later, the vlog features the vendor serving his entire security behind closed government gates, while Tej Pratap takes a bite on camera and, donning the avatar of a food vlogger, announces to his audience: “This is a completely original choco-bar. Nothing beats it in the summer heat.”
When the old ‘LR’ channel crossed 1 lakh subscribers, he went as far as putting up massive hoardings across Patna to mark this milestone.
Following his election defeat in November 2025, he launched the TY vlog, using his initials. The channel’s description promises, “An authentic look into the everyday lifestyle of Tej Pratap Yadav… culture and heritage of Bihar, rural lifestyle and ground reality, travel vlogs, local food and authentic experiences.”
He leaned towards this during a village vlog, where he returned to his ancestral roots. While walking through the streets, he recalled: “The soil of Phulwariya and the memories of childhood always remain closest to the heart. Here our fathers struggled, imparted values… Everything is temporary these days, but this soil is permanent.” (‘The soil and childhood memories of Phulwaria (Gopalganj, Bihar) are always closest to the heart. It is here that my father struggled and gave us values… Everything is temporary these days, but this soil is permanent.’)
devotedly devoted
Although his ‘Sant’ handle is new, the religious content is completely on-brand for Tej Pratap. In 2017, while serving as the Health Minister of Bihar under Nitish Kumar, he appeared at public events dressed as Lord Krishna.
In July 2018, during the holy month of Shravan, news cameras caught him dressed as Lord Shiva, with ash-stained skin, praying at a temple in Patna before leaving for Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar.
Later that year, he posted a video of himself standing on a chariot as Arjuna while a figure of Krishna held the reins of the chariot. In a matching caption, he described his grand plan to “place Arjun – Tejashwi Yadav – on the throne of Hastinapur and go to Dwarka himself”.
His younger brother Tejashwi, known for his measured style, is now the undisputed leader of RJD. Through the @santejpratapyadav page, Tej Pratap, closer to his father’s style of rural carelessness, has retreated to his own version of spiritual quest.
Sitting cross-legged, dressed in bright saffron, adorned with a rosary of Rudraksha and smeared with sacred ashes, he offers a sharp, poetic criticism of worldly possessions: “Bhasma (ash) is the adornment of Lord Shankar, brother. Is everything in the world an illusion. One day, everything has to be destroyed. When you came empty-handed, you have to go empty-handed… So what is there to be proud of?” (‘Ash is the ornament of Lord Shiva. Everything in this world is an illusion. One day, everything will turn to ash. You came here empty handed, and will go empty handed, so why be proud?’)
