A senior journalist sitting at a television news office made it very clear that Lalu Yadav is a strong politician. He knows how to prevail over the politicians opposing him. According to that journalist, the fresh jail term isn’t going to weaken him politically.
After all, he has emerged stronger whenever he has been sent to the jail. This has been his track record. His party will fight for him. His son, Tejashwi Yadav, is desperate to obtain bail for his father from the High Court. His wife, on the other hand, looks concerned with his journey to the jail once again.
However, KC Tyagi, a senior leader, pointed out that Lalu was a product of the Jayaprakash Narayan movement. In his words, “A chapter in Bihar politics ends today. Laluji played a prominent political role as a youth leader in the JP agitation than as a mass leader. He had his successes. But he also had his defeats and was ultimately fighting a lonely battle.”
Who would like to stay in a jail? Lalu positively does not want to linger in the prison. He even took steps to get rid of his prison sentence, by saying that there was too much cold in the confines of the cell. But his appeal was not acceptable to the court. That was why it was suggested that he should play the tabla, an indigenous musical instrument.
Consequently, at the ripe old age of 70 years, he has been languishing in jail. Not just this, he has also been suffering from various diseases.
The law acts upon corroborative evidences – and if the accused is found guilty, the prosecution cannot be suspended. Saturday’s verdict pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994, when Lalu was Bihar’s chief minister (CM). One ex-CM Jagannath Mishra was absolved of all charges, while another ex-CM Lalu Yadav was given a jail term of three-and-a-half years along with a fine of ₹5 lakh. This is something that’s being hotly discussed in the political arena.
The aged Lalu might be thinking in his complete seclusion that whatever the fodder scam was, it was indeed the worst. What he supposedly did was dumb and reckless, possibly in an attempt to experience something distinctive. Evidently, it did not work and these activities sent his life into more of a spiral than ever before.
But, what he does know now is that the sentence has opened his eyes – and maybe, to his utter shock, his heart too. It can be hoped that he is now firmly acquainted with the path he wants to be on. In my opinion, till now, he has been very confused.
Yet, deep down, a part of him knows what he was actually feeling and understands the adverse situation. He has been trying to keep his emotions inside. In fact, I still think that the anger and the frustration still get to him.
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