Last month, in one of the various cases related to the infamous Fodder Scam of Bihar (the then undivided state of Bihar that included Jharkhand too), former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted but another former CM Jagannath Mishra was acquitted.
This had led to senior journalist Shekhar Gupta claiming ‘casteism’ and he tried to insinuate a “caste bias” in the judiciary, because Mishra, an upper caste Brahmin, was let off and a ‘lower caste’ Yadav was convicted. Gupta’s tweet containing this ‘conspiracy theory’ was shared by Lalu himself back then, even as many people tried to reason how both of them were wrong.
Today, the judiciary also proved them wrong as a special CBI Court in Ranchi found both Jagannath Mishra and Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in another case related to the Fodder scam, the Chaibasa Treasury case. No special treatment was meted out to the ‘upper caste’ Mishra:
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/956045791981916160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On expected lines, Shekhar Gupta maintained strategic silence on his Twitter page unlike last month, when he was actively promoting his ‘caste bias in judiciary’ theory. As a result, Lalu Prasad Yadav, whose Twitter account is being operated by his ‘office’ these days, too couldn’t get any conspiracy theory to share.
However, Tejaswi Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, decided not to depend on Shekhar Gupta alone, and went ahead with a new conspiracy theory. Tejaswi alleged that BJP, RSS and Nitish Kumar had hatched a conspiracy against Lalu. He further said that there will be an appeal in the higher courts against today’s order.
Bihar BJP’s leader Sushil Modi termed Tejaswi’s allegations “unfortunate” but not unexpected.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/956058803778326531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra, both, have been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Ranchi Court. They have also been fined Rs. 5 lakh each for their involvement in the scam. Lalu Yadav is already in jail following last month’s verdict.
Judging from Tejashwi Yadav’s comments after his father’s latest conviction, it is to be expected that the party will adopt the same strategy to deflect attention from Lalu Prasad Yadav’s involvement in corruption, though this time they may miss the support of senior journalists like Shekhar Gupta.