Fodder scam: Lalu Yadav sentenced to 5 years in jail, to be second parliamentarian disqualified

PATNA: Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to five years in prison in the fodder scam case, a verdict that makes him the second parliamentarian to be disqualified under the recent Supreme Court ruling and spells a serious setback to his party.

The special CBI court judge PK Singh on Thursday pronounced the sentence, which included a fine of Rs 25 lakh and rendered the 65-year-old politician ineligible for contesting elections for 11 years. The judgement came in the first of the six Rs 950 crore fodder scam cases, after the court had on September 30 held all 45 accused, including Prasad, guilty.

If Prasad fails to get bail from the High Court, his party will have to do without its leader and chief campaigner in next year’s parliamentary polls, which could turn mainly into a contest between the ruling JD(U) and BJP. The judge also handed out four years of imprisonment to former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra and JD(U)’s Lok Sabha member from Jehanabad, Jagdish Sharma, who will also lose his membership of Parliament. RJD’s RK Rana, a former member of Parliament, got a five-year jail sentence and was slapped with a fine of Rs 30 lakh.

While Prasad and the other accused heard the sentence through video conference in the Birsa Munda central jail, Mishra got the news in the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was admitted. “Laluji has been a victim of conspiracy hatched by both the JD(U) and BJP. But we will now appeal in the Ranchi High Court,” JD(U)’s Ram Kripal Yadav told ET.

Prasad’s wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi has called a meeting of senior party leaders on October 6. She is expected to lead the party in her husband’s absence and will be assisted by her two sons, Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav.

With the RJD chief out of the reckoning, his party would find it difficult to keep its traditional vote back intact, analysts said.