Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday attempted to downplay the BJP's criticism of Bihar Minority Affairs Minister Abdul Ghafoor for having snacks with former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, saying there was nothing wrong in it as welcoming guests with snacks in jail is a normal courtesy.
"The BJP has got no work left. What is the crime in this? When people came to meet me, they were treated with snacks and it is a normal courtesy. Why is BJP upset over that," said Lalu Yadav.
According to reports, RJD Minister Ghafoor bent the jail manual rules to meet Shahabuddin in the Siwan prison.
Shahabuddin, who was awarded life sentence and a 10-year imprisonment in six cases of murder and abduction, has been acquitted in four. At least eleven cases are still pending against him in sessions' courts, while more than 30 cases are pending in the courts of magistrates.
The former RJD MP has been in prison since November 2005 after a special police team arrested him from his Delhi residence.
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