Journalism of Courage
Reacting to RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s conviction in the fifth fodder scam case, Bihar leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said the court’s verdict would be respected, but sought to know if “there was just one scam in the country”. Tejashwi said they would move a higher court for legal reprieve, and the verdict “had not dampened the morale of the party”.
“We respect the court’s verdict. It should be respected, otherwise it would be contempt of court. But people are reacting as if it (fodder case) was the only scam in the country. There had been some 80-odd scams in Bihar. Has any action been taken against anyone? What about cases against some influential businessmen in the country?”
Speaking at a press conference in Patna, Tejashwi said the biggest court was the “court of people”.
“Lalu Prasad was loved and lauded by the people’s court and will remain messiah of the poor. We are not at all disheartened,” he said.
Tejashwi also claimed the fodder scam was broken into many cases “when it should have been one case”.
Talking about a chargesheet against him in the IRCTC case in which his father is also an accused, Tejashwi said, “I was a minor then, yet I was chargesheeted. Everyone knows who controls these central agencies.”
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, who was one of the PIL petitioners in the fodder case, said the verdict was the “poor’s curse upon Lalu Prsad”.
“The fodder case verdict is yet another indictment of Lalu Prasad. It is a vindication of our charge that he has worked only for self-aggrandizement and for furthering his family’s interest. In fact, the verdict is the curse of the poor in him,” Modi claimed.
Modi said it was only after CBI had taken over the case that truths of fodder scam had come to light. “The CBI had trashed investigation done by the state police. Now the court has convicted Lalu Prasad in five cases and he can’t contest any election for even a Mukhiya.”
JD (U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said there could be more convictions for the RJD chief. “Many more convictions could be in store for Lalu Prasad as another fodder case is pending. Besides, he is also an accused in the IRCTC case along with his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi. Lalu Prasad is reaping what he had sowed.”
