Sushil Kumar Modi refutes charge of political vendetta against Lalu Prasad

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi rubbished charges of political vendetta levelled against his party by supporters of RJD president Lalu Prasad.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, a BJP leader on whose petition the Patna High Court had ordered a CBI investigation into fodder scam, on Monday rubbished charges of political vendetta levelled against his party by supporters of RJD president Lalu Prasad.

Modi, now a Rajya Sabha member, came out with a video of himself reacting to the order of a CBI court in Ranchi which sentenced Prasad to five years in jail besides slapping him with a fine of Rs 60 lakh.

The BJP leader pointed out that the first charge sheet against Prasad was filled during the premiership of H D Deve Gowda, whose United Front government depended on Prasad for its survival.

He also recalled that the first time the Prasad got convicted was during the tenure of Manmohan Singh when the Congress-led UPA remained in power with the RJD's unflinching support.

The BJP leader, who remains in news for his "exposes" against Prasad and his family, also lent credence to former boss Nitish Kumar's contention that many who had filed cases accusing Prasad of corruption were now his close aides.

"Those who had filed PILs against Lalu ji, besides me, included Shivanand Tiwary, Vrishan Patel, and Prem Chandra Mishra", said Modi.

Tiwary is currently a national vice president of the RJD and his son is enjoying a second term as party MLA.

Vrishan Patel is a party-hopper who is currently a state vice president of the RJD.

Prem Chandra Mishra is an MLC of the Congress.

"The sight of Lalu ji going to jail at this ripe age fills me with pain. But this is not the first occasion. He has been previously convicted in four cases of the fodder scam", said Modi who has closely known Prasad since the 1970s when they held top posts in Patna University Students' Union.

Modi added, "it is high time Lalu ji's well-wishers gave up whining that he has been framed (phansaya gaya hai'). It is an order of the court and judges are not BJP appointees".