Journalism of Courage
Senior RJD leaders expressed faith in the leadership of former chief minister Rabri Devi,who presided over an emergency meeting of the party on Sunday,called in the wake of the conviction of party chief Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case last week.
All top leaders except ailing Vaishali MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh attended the meeting. The party leaders rallied behind Rabri and sought to play up the anger factor,taking on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Maharajganj MP Prabhunath Singh slammed the media for cooking up stories of leadership crisis and writing off Lalu too soon. Most leaders recalled 1997 when Rabri had taken over the party reins successfully after Lalu was jailed.
Amid slogans like jail ka phatak tutega,hamara neta chhutega,Rabri,who addressed party workers after a long time,said: Media has been unnecessarily jumping in speculation about our fate. We will see how they cover the CBI filing counter-affidavit in the Jharkhand High Court on November 22 on a writ seeking to make Nitish Kumar and two others accused in fodder scam.
She said there had also been speculation about possibility of her contesting from the Chhapra Lok Sabha seat. It is all baseless talks. Laluji will come back from jail. People have conspired against him. Party workers have to show great patience and resilience. The big gathering today shows measure of support for Laluji, said Rabri,who was unofficially declared caretaker RJD leader. A party resolution talked about the party fighting under leadership of Lalu Prasad and Rabri.
Lalu and Rabris sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi Prasad also shared the dais but did not speak. Some leaders,including the Maharajganj MP,also talked about the two sons taking up responsibility in the absence of Lalu. Yuva RJD chief Ramchander Ram frequently referred to the leadership and guidance of Tej Pratap and Tejaswi.
