Lalu Prasad jailed for five years in fodder scam, is no longer an MP

mangaloretoday.com

Ranchi, Jharkhand, Oct 3: Lalu Prasad was on Thursday sentenced through videoconference to five years in jail in a case related to the 17-year-old fodder scam case. Mr Prasad, who has been in jail since his conviction on Monday, is now no longer an MP.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, who is an ally of the Manmohan Singh government, will  be barred from contesting elections for six years after he has served his prison term, according to a recent Supreme Court order.

 

Which means that unless a higher court overturns this sentence, 66-year-old Lalu cannot contest elections till 2024.

This morning Lalu Prasad’s lawyers argued for leniency on grounds that he was an eminent and law-abiding citizen who had turned around the railways as minister. They even pleaded that he suffers from many diseases, to counter the CBI’s plea for maximum punishment.
 
An RJD spokesperson said they would appeal against the verdict in a higher court.
 
Another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra has been sentenced to four years in jail.

Lalu was convicted with 44 others in this case, a part of the fodder scam which involves the embezzlement of 950 crores from the state government treasury in the name of fodder and medicines for non-existent cattle.
 
The Bihar politician, who is prisoner number 3312 at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central jail, was not in court when the CBI judge announced the sentence.
 
The RJD’s Manoj Jha said his party was "more united and energized than ever." Lalu has reportedly turned his jail cell into the new RJD headquarters where he has been meeting party leaders.
 
Mr Prasad reportedly does not favour appointing an interim head for the RJD, in the hope of some relief from the High Court. If he is not granted bail by a superior court, he will have to look at who can lead the party in his stead, as party cadres get restive and political rivals eye his not unsubstantial vote bank.
 
His wife Rabri Devi, who has been chief minister of Bihar thrice, has said she and her son will run the party "like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi run the Congress."