Lalu Prasad is only culprit among saints, says RJD leader

Patna: Shivanand Tiwari, vice president of the RJD, questioned Wednesday why the party's chief was the only one being targeted in corruption cases after Lalu Prasad Yadav was found guilty in another fodder scam.

"The special CBI court has punished Lalu Prasad Yadav repeatedly in one case. It had ruled in favour of Lalu Prasad in the past, so we did not expect anything different in this case. They filed five FIRs for one case and pronounced separate punishments.

According to Tiwari, the way ruling party leaders addressed Lalu Prasad Yadav gave the impression that he was the only culprit in the world, while they were saints.

"For any corruption case in our country, actions take place on the line of meeting the political intention and motive of a party ruling in the country. If we remember the 2015 Assembly elections of Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Gopalganj and Muzaffarpur rallies, said that Nitish Kumar was involved in 22 scams. At that time, Narendra Modi was campaigning for BJP and Nitish Kumar was the chief Ministerial face of Mahagathbandhan," Tiwari said.

After Lalu Prasad Yadav's conviction on Tuesday, several RJD leaders, including Jagadanand Singh, Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and Shyam Rajak, expressed similar views.

"Lalu ji is a preceptor of social equality and social justice in the country. The poor people of Bihar are disheartened after a CBI court held him guilty in a fodder scam. He is making a huge contribution in the society," Manjhi, the former Chief Minister of Bihar, said.

I do not wish to comment on the court decision, but must say that people of the country are taking a great deal of inspiration from socialist leaders like him. It is painful and extremely unfortunate that he is being sent to jail regularly in one case. I pray that he will be able to hold on to health," Manjhi concluded.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, a leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha, also stepped up to support Lalu Prasad Yadav.