Lalu Prasad Yadav rode an elephant back home in 1997, after being released from jail on bail in a fodder scam case. It was a signal to his substantial support base in Bihar then that not even a stint in jail could unnerve Lalu Prasad.
A lot has changed since for Mr Yadav as a Jharkhand court is set to deliver verdict in a case related to the Rs. 950 crore fodder scam, 17 years after it was filed. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader is accused, along with 44 other people, of fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa district treasury, then in undivided Bihar and now a part of Jharkhand.
Mr Yadav reached Ranchi on Sunday with his son, Tejashwi, and would only say, “Please let me rest and let judge sahab rest too. I will speak only tomorrow.”
If he is convicted today, Mr Yadav’s dwindling political career could see an eclipse that will be difficult to recover from. The Supreme Court ruled in July this year that lawmakers convicted in a case and handed a sentence of two years or more in prison will be immediately disqualified and cannot contest the next elections. But all this will be applicable only till a higher court reverses his conviction.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had alleged last week that the Congress-led central government tried to hurriedly push through an Ordinance to overturn the Supreme Court ruling primarily to protect Mr Yadav if he is convicted. Lalu Prasad has proved a loyal ally of the Congress through its most trying moments in recent years.
The Ordinance is now all but dead after Congress number 2 Rahul Gandhi trashed it as “complete nonsense” last Friday and suggested that “it be torn up and thrown away.” Officially, the government will review it on the Prime Minister’s return from the United States.
When the fodder scam first surfaced in 1996, Lalu Prasad was the chief minister of Bihar and considered virtually unshakeable. He had to resign in 1997 after being charged in the scam, but he placed his wife Rabri Devi as Chief Minister in his stead.
He lost Bihar to Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) in 2005, and has since tried unsuccessfully to have the judge in the case changed.
The 61 fodder-scam related cases relate to the alleged embezzlement of massive funds apportioned for fodder and medicines for non-existent cattle. Mr Yadav has been named as an accused in five.