Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: In an attempt to woo Congress party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday said it will be wrong to blame Rahul Gandhi for the jail term awarded to him in the fodder scam.
The RJD chief, another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and 43 others were on September 30, 2013, convicted by a special CBI court in the fodder scam case involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa Treasury during the Lalu-led RJD regime. The court had sentenced Lalu to five years in prison and had imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh.
Later, after two months the Supreme Court granted bail to him.
Ever since he was released, the politician has been trying for an alliance with Congress in Bihar. For which he had meeetings with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi twice in the national capital to discuss alliance between both the parties.
Speaking to an English news channel today, the ex-Bihar chief minister said, “I didn`t go to jail because of Rahul Gandhi. It is wrong to blame him.”
“We will have an alliance with Congress, just wait and see,” he added.
Recently, while praising Congress, Lalu had said, “The party (Congress) is like an `umbrella` organisation of secular forces, which the country needs.”
Lalu even had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and requested of a possible alliance between the two parties while promising not to repeat the mistakes of 2009 when RJD had a breakdown with the Congress.
When asked about the UPA government`s role in Supreme Court ruling ordering disqualification of convicted lawmakers, Yadav said, “There was no attempt to save me by bringing an ordinance. That`s just a farce. Don`t tarnish the image of UPA government.”
The 66-year-old was disqualified as an MP after his conviction in the fodder scam following the top court`s ruling.
On formation of a Third Front, Yadav added, “I cannot be a part of the Third Front. Every member of the Third Front wants to be Prime Minister. I also want to be PM. My dream is not yet shattered.”
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, he said, “I will ally with the Congress to stop the communal forces. My aim is to stop Modi and Kejriwal at any cost.”
From past few months, RJD has been praising Congress and making it clear that they want the ruling party to be an integral part of the "secular alliance" in Bihar, having 40 parliamentary seats.
Although there are two views in Congress over the issue but a dominant section of Congress leaders favour an alliance with Lalu Yadav to fight a resurgent BJP.
