Fodder scam open shut case of brazen corruption, says BJP

BJP asked Congress to condemn Lalu

PATNA: Reacting on Rashtriya Janata Party or RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's conviction, BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao on Sunday said that the fodder scam is an open and shut case of corruption which should be condemned by Congress.

“Lalu Prasad Yadav's conviction surprises no one in this country because the Fodder scam is an open shut case of brazen corruption carried out in defrauding the public ex-chequer. When he compares himself to Dr BR Ambedkar, we take strong objection to it,” said Rao.

“We want the Congress party to equally condemn Lalu Prasad Yadav's statement and if they do not do it, it will be seen as Congress is in his company,” added Rao.

The former Bihar chief minister was convicted in the fodder scam by a special CBI court in Ranchi on Saturday. The court will announce the sentencing on January 3, 2018.

Lalu was immediately taken into custody.

Minutes after the conviction, the party announced that it will challenge the verdict in the high court.

In October 2013, when he was first convicted in a related fodder scam case, he had to spend two months in jail before he got bail from the Supreme Court.

The former chief minister of Bihar had been charged in several cases related to the scam, in which Rs. 900 crore were embezzled from the state exchequer for fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle over a period of 20 years. 

The CBI began probing the case in 1996.

Over 50 cases were registered for embezzlement of funds on the pretext of buying fodder for cattle, among others.