44,000 marriage proposals for Lalu Yadav's son Tejaswi, who 'prefers' arranged match

Patna: Bihar's 25-year-old Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav had shared a phone number where citizens could WhatsApp their complaints about bad roads in the state. He has received 44,000 marriage proposals instead, a government official said.

There were some complaints and demands for road repair on the helpline. About 3,000.

The official said most young women have sent personal information much as they would in response to a marriage ad. "The women mistook the number as Tejaswi's own and sent the personal messages," he said.

"Thank God I am still single," news agency IANS has quoted Tejaswi Yadav as saying, when asked about the marriage proposals.

Such personal messages, he joked, could have landed him into deep trouble had he been married.

He also shared that he "prefers an arranged marriage."

Mr Yadav, who is also the state's Public Welfare Department minister, is a cricketer turned politician and the younger son of Lalu Yadav, chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD. His mother Rabri Devi is a former chief minister.

Tejaswi and older brother Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Health Minister in Bihar's Nitish Kumar government, are reportedly considered among the most eligible bachelors in Bihar.

Though younger, Tejaswi Yadav is seen as his father's political heir. He won his first election last year and his party's superior performance earned him the number 2 spot in the government.

The minister is active on social media and had last year helped an engineering student from Sitamarhi get his pending scholarship through the help of social media.

The student had complained to Mr Yadav on Facebook that he was not being given the scholarship.