Soon after a court of the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday sentenced former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to three years and six months in jail in a fodder scam case, a post from his Twitter handle criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for “fixing” him.
“I will die happily fixing myself for social justice, harmony & equality,” Yadav said in the tweet.
After he was convicted in the case in December, a post from his account said his family and representatives would continue to tweet from his handle while he was in jail.
Besides the 3.5-year jail term, the CBI court also fined the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Rs 10 lakh in one of the six cases in the fodder scam.
Soon after the sentencing, his son Tejashwi Yadav said the family will apply for bail at the High Court. He accused the Narendra Modi government and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of framing the charges against his family to wipe out the opposition, News18 reported.
Tejashwi Yadav said the Rashtriya Janata Dal will continue to fight for the cause of the poor. “Lalu is messiah of the common man,” he said. “They know their leader has been framed by CBI at the behest of political opponents, but no one can challenge our determination.”
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief also wrote a letter to his followers, images of which were posted on his Twitter account. “I’m writing this letter to all of you to remind you of the injustice...” the letter read.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi reacted to Yadav’s sentencing, saying the court had “vindicated” the charges Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had raised against him. “Conviction is conviction,” he said.
Senior JD(U) leader and party spokesperson KC Tyagi called the judgment a “historic decision in Bihar politics”. “It is the end of a chapter,” he told ANI.
The Congress, an ally of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, said it has always “waged a war against corruption”. Congress leader RPN Singh said, “As far as the alliance is concerned, it is with the RJD and not particular individuals.”
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