Last Updated on 18/02/2022 by Nidhi Khandelwal
The Rs 950-crore fodder scandal during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s term and the Rs 22,000-crore Shrijan scam during Nitish Kumar’s tenure in Bihar are examples of how the Bharatiya Janata Party has abused the Central Bureau of Investigation for political gain.
In 2013, the court began issuing judgements in the fodder scam cases. Hundreds of people were accused and convicted in connection with the scandal, including Lalu, another former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, Congress leader Jagdish Sharma, IAS officer K. Arumugham, and Bihar animal husbandry department regional director Shyam Bihari Sinha. Sharma, Arumugham, and Sinha are no longer alive.
The Rs 950-crore fodder scandal during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s term and the Rs 22,000-crore Shrijan scam during Nitish Kumar’s tenure in Bihar are examples of how the Bharatiya Janata Party has abused the Central Bureau of Investigation for political gain.
On February 15, a CBI court found Lalu and 74 others guilty of “conspiracy” in “fraudulent withdrawal” of Rs 139.50 crores from the Doranda (Ranchi) treasury. The court handed down its decision in the fifth and final case of the fodder scam.
Furthermore, the RSS-BJP used the scandal to single out Lalu and portray him as the lone emblem of corruption, theft, and chaos. The urban middle class and ‘upper’ castes, who were hostile to Lalu because of his outspoken support for the backward classes and marginalized sectors, as well as his vigorous implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations, ate up the RSS-‘anarchist’ BJP’s portrayal of him.
