EX-CM MISHRA DID NOT DESERVE THIS, SAYS MITHILANCHAL

SAHARSA/DARBHANGA: The four-year jail term awarded to three-time Bihar chief minis ter Jagannath Mishra triggered a wave of sympathy for the 76-year-old. Reactions across Mithilanchal region ranged from disbelief to anger. Even those on the other side of the political divide were outraged.

“How could the CBI book him for having written a recommen dation letter of the kind all poli ticians do? This is unfair,” said Lekhanand Mishra, a prominent BJP leader from the veteran lead er’s home town of Balua Bazaar in Saharsa.

Political activist Arun Kumar Yadav from Madhepura described the former Congressman’s incar ceration as an outcome of politi cal vendetta.

Social activist Anwar Alam said Mishra had done much for Bihar, particularly for the Mithilanchal region and for the religious minorities “Considering he comes from a well-to-do family, it is hard to believe he plotted to plun der the state exchequer, as the charge sheet seems to imply,” he said.

“He brought honour to this land. We hope he’ll get justice from a higher court,” said Ashok Kumar Bachchan of Jhanjharpur Mishra’s former constituency Retired college principal of Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU), Darbhanga, Kameshwar Jha said Mishra was a large hearted man who wrote recom mendation letters for anybody approaching him for help.