Actor-turned-politician and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said that only time will tell if the corruption charges against RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav were merely allegations or not. Said Sinha to THE WEEK, “The matter is deep-rooted. Let law take its course. You cannot call a person convict till it is proven that he is convict. Let us wait and watch.”
The CBI, on July 7, raided the properties of Lalu and his associates after the agency registered a corruption case against him on July 5. Lalu was accused of helping a private company to get a tender to run and maintain hotels owned by the railways when he was the Union railway minister. Said Lalu, “My party and I will not be cowed. It is a conspiracy against me. The BJP government at the Centre is striking down anyone who speaks against them.” The CBI said that it has found a lot of irregularities and manipulations. “Conditions were tweaked to help a private party,” read a statement from the agency.
Sinha, who shares cordial relationship with Lalu, had earlier come out in support of Lalu after he was accused of being corrupt. Said Sinha in a series of tweets then, “Enough of negative politics and mudslinging by opponents on our political leaders… Can’t just keep feeding media with one night stories and sensationalising… An allegation is only that unless proved.”
The ties between Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Lalu worsened after Nitish backed the NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind despite Lalu telling him not to make “a historical blunder”. Sinha stayed tight-lipped to THE WEEK’s query on how long the alliance between the RJD and Nitish’s JD(U) will last.
