Ready to die for the poor, says Lalu as court rules

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav said yesterday he is ready to die and won’t complain even if he is jailed for a hundred years for fighting social justice moments after a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court awarded him a jail term of three-and-a-half years in a fodder scam case.

Yadav took to Twitter to covey his message. The RJD president had last month authorised the party to handle his Twitter account in his absence shortly after being convicted in the fodder scam.

“Rather than practicing BJP’s Simple Rule — “Follow us or We will Fix you”, I will die happily fixing myself for Social justice, harmony & equality (sic),” he tweeted moments after the court handed out the punishment.

Open letter

The RJD also distributed an open letter to the public, which was said to have been written by the incarcerated RJD president, wherein he vowed to happily stay in jail for a hundred years for the cause of social justice.

“Please don’t get disappointed. It’s your love and affection which give me a lot of strength. None has the guts to intimidate the man who enjoys the supports of millions of his supporters who are his family,” said the letter.

“Don’t get disturbed a bit. Each of my sacrifices will give you strength,” said Yadav in his emotional letter to the masses.

“I knew it well that I will be put in jail, be victimised and implicated in false cases,” he said adding how his worst fears are now proving true.

“See how they [adversaries] went after me … they let free the CBI after me, dragged my family in fake cases, they called army to arrest me...but I am not a bit worried. Do you know why? Because none can harm the man who has the support of millions of poor masses,” said Prasad.

The ruling coalition, however, termed Yadav’s letter an attempt to get support from the public.

“Lalu Prasad has been punished for denying right to the poor...Justice has finally been served,” Bihar BJJP chief Nityanand Rai said.