Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi attended the launch of a book written by former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, convicted in the fodder scam.
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav Tuesday accused the BJP of adopting double standards for those accused of corruption after the state’s deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi attended an event that saw the release of the book, Bihar Badhkar Rahega, written by former chief minister Jagannath Mishra.
Mishra, 81, convicted in the Rs 900-crore fodder scam, is currently out on bail on medical grounds. Tejashwi’s father, former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad, 61, also convicted in the same case, is out on conditional bail on medical grounds.
“Former CM Jagannath Mishra has been sentenced in the fodder scam… Sushil Modi, one of the petitioners in the fodder scam case is seen releasing the book Bihar Badhkar Rahega written by scam convict Mishra,” Tejashwi tweeted along with a photo of the event in Patna where former President Pranab Mukherjee released Mishra’s book.
“Son (Mishra’s son Nitish) is a vice president in the state BJP. The rest — all Dalits and backwards — are thieves. Aren’t they?”
Speaking to ThePrint, Yadav said that this exposed the hypocrisy of the BJP.
“This is the conspiracy by manuvadis. To make his son’s political career Mishra is now cosying up to the BJP,” he said. “This also exposes the tall claims made by BJP that they are fighting corruption. Mishra’s son is a vice president in the BJP’s Bihar unit. Doesn’t it smack of double standards?”
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The scam
Mishra was the chief minister of Bihar between 11 April 1975, and 30 April 1977, and again between December 1989 and March 1990. He was in the Congress before joining the NCP and finally the Janata Dal (United).
He had been sentenced to five years in jail along with Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam case. In February 2018, he was granted bail by the Patna High Court on medical grounds. Lalu Prasad, who was in jail since December 2017, was granted bail in May 2018 on medical grounds.
The fodder scam involved the illegal withdrawal of funds from the state treasury and dates back to the 1990s.
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