Lalu is the only leader who has been trying to unite the opposition in the past three years against the BJP.
New Delhi: The conviction of RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav could come as a big jolt to the opposition unity, especially at a time when the Congress is bouncing back after the 2G verdict, sources told ThePrint.
A special CBI court in Jharkhand Saturday held him guilty in a second fodder scam case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs 80 lakh from the Deoghar treasury.
If the quantum of punishment — due to be decided on 3 January — is three years or less, then Lalu would get bail from the court itself. But if he gets more than three years, he will have to be in jail for some time until he gets bail from a higher court.
Lalu is the only leader who has been trying to unite the opposition in the past three years against the BJP.
He is the architect of Bihar’s grand alliance that collapsed after Nitish Kumar of JD(U) joined hands with the BJP in August this year.
“He is a secular leader and leaders from all other parties respect him and listen to him. That’s why the BJP is trying to keep him away,” senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told ThePrint.
However, even if Lalu gets bail in the current case, his troubles would be far from over. The verdicts in the remaining three cases of the fodder scam, in which Lalu is an accused, are likely to come in quick succession.
If Lalu is saddled with court cases, the attempts of forging an opposition unity against the BJP before 2019 will take a hit.
Just after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Lalu made an attempt to form an alliance. He first tried to unite the old ‘Janata Parivar’, making Mulayam Singh Yadav, the president of it. But the proposal was rejected by Samajwadi Party. Later, he sealed a deal with Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) before the 2015 Bihar assembly elections.
He even compromised on seat sharing and was ready to give up the post of chief minister, all to keep BJP out of power. The grand alliance collapsed in August this year with Nitish moving out of it.
Lalu also tried hard to bring Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Ajit Singh and Congress together before the UP assembly elections. But barring the Congress and the SP, others did not show interest in the alliance.
In July this year, when Mayawati resigned from the Rajya Sabha, Lalu
offered her a Rajya Sabha nomination from Bihar.
Just after Nitish Kumar moved to the NDA, Lalu organised a ‘BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao’ rally in Patna on 27 August, which was attended by 18 political parties.
BSP supremo Mayawati decided not to attend the rally at the last moment saying that there should be more clarity in the alliance before she could share stage with other parties.
JD(U), however, believes that Saturday’s conviction marks the beginning of his end in political career.
“Lalu’s era is over. No matter how hard he is trying, this is the beginning of his end,” said senior JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi.
But Congress said the former CM of Bihar is capable of handling the situation himself.
“Laluji has been fighting the legal battle since 1996, after a few BJP leaders had filed a petition against him. He and his lawyers are very much capable of handling today’s verdict,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.
“Political alliance and criminal cases are two different things. We have been in an alliance with him for a long time,” he added.