Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad found himself in the thick of controversy again after his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav officially mentioned in his poll affidavit that he is full year junior to his younger brother Tejashwi.

The two Prasad children are making their poll debut in forthcoming elections in the state.

Prasad’s elder son submitted his affidavit to the Election Commission (EC) on Monday while filing his nomination papers.

Although the RJD sought to play down the issue blaming it on the errors in the voter’s list, the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) smells conspiracy in the whole episode and has urged the EC to take cognizance of the case.

“The matter is very serious and it seems to have done with mala fide intention to establish both his (Lalu Prasad’s) children in politics. When the elder brother has declared he is 25 years old, it is very much clear that his younger brother should be less than his age and is, thus, not eligible for contesting elections. The Election Commission must order a thorough investigation into this and reject the nomination papers of those submitting false affidavits,” state BJP president Mangal Pandey told the media on Tuesday.

The documents show that Tej Pratap holds an intermediate degree, while his younger brother studied up to Grade 9.

Both brothers are contesting elections this time to carry forward the legacy of their father who stands disqualified from running for office, after he was convicted in the multi-million dollar fodder scam.

While the elder brother is contesting from Mahua seat, the younger brother has filed his papers from the Raghopur—both the seats falling under the Vaishali district.

The BJP chief also expressed serious doubts over the educational qualifications of Prasad’s younger son Tejashwi who declared he is a school dropout and has studied only up to Grade 9.

“I can say with certainty that he has pursued higher education but mentioned his educational qualification as only Grade 9 dropout with the sole intention to hide his real age. Had he submitted his certificate of secondary board, his real age would have come to light and, thus, would have been ineligible to contest elections,” he alleged urging the EC to take cognizance of the matter.

The EC, however, ruled out taking action against the candidates saying it was beyond their jurisdiction.

“The role of the returning officers is to merely check if the nomination papers are filled up correctly and if all the required documents are submitted. Private parties, though, can file election petitions in the High Court,” Bihar’s additional chief electoral officer R Lakshmanan told the media.

Earlier in March this year, Prasad’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti courted controversy when she claimed she delivered a lecture at the prestigious American university Harvard also posted what she claimed were photographs of the function on the social media — a claim which was trashed by the university.

“Misa Bharti was invited as part of the audience and not as a speaker of any panel at the India Conference at Harvard. She was not invited to deliver any lecture. Her attendee status can also be confirmed from the fact that she had to purchase a conference ticket as an audience,” was how a spokesman of the university told the Indian media soon after the controversy broke out over her addressing the conference.