Lalu hasn't learnt lesson from past mistakes: JDU, BJP

The JDU and the BJP today said RJD chief Lalu Prasad's conviction in a second fodder scam case was expected and that Prasad had not learnt any lessons from his past mistakes.

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said Lalu Prasad was "considered the epitome of corruption" and the quantum of sentence, which will be pronounced on January 3, would be his "new year gift".

"Lalu Prasad says he belongs to a particular caste and that's why he has been convicted. If that is true, which caste does Jagdish Sharma belong to?" he asked.

Sharma is one of the three political leaders who were convicted in the case along with Prasad.

"Please do not try to divide the judicial pronouncements on the basis of caste and religion. Prasad had to bear the brunt of Shani Dev (God Shani) as he fraudulently withdrew money from Lord Shiva's city of Deoghar," Kumar said.

Soon after the verdict Lalu Prasad's Twitter handle read: "Powerful people and powerful classes always managed to divide society into ruling and the ruled classes. And whenever anyone from the lower hierarchy challenged this unjust order, they would be deliberately punished."

"Had people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb Ambedkar failed in their efforts, history would have treated them as villains. They still are villains for the biased, racist and casteist minds. No one should expect any different treatment," he added in another tweet.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said Prasad's conviction was expected.

"As one of the petitioners in the case, I was not at all surprised by the verdict. It was expected, given the amount of concrete evidence we had furnished in the matter.

"Lalu Prasad, who is already convicted in one such case, is not going to mend his ways," Modi said in a statement.

"You reap what you sow," he said, adding the judgement was a lesson for politicians who amass benami properties in the name of Dalits, backwards and minorities.

"Had Lalu Prasad learnt any lesson from the fodder scam, he would not have indulged in the Lara scam in which he has dragged all his family members. He has not learnt from his past mistakes," Modi said.

The Lara scam refers to the soil scandal in the state in which Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap had allegedly sold soil worth Rs 90 lakh from an under-construction mall being built on a large patch of land owned by his family.

Senior RJD leader Jagdanand Singh told reporters here: "We respect the judiciary and its verdict. But we will challenge the verdict in the high court as the judgement of the lower court is not a final one. We will prove our innocence in the higher court."

Singh, who had served as a minister in the erstwhile RJD government, said the party was united and waiting for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the party workers and leaders will fulfill the dreams of Lalu Prasad and BR Ambedkar who fought for social justice.

"The party will continue its fight and struggle for social justice right from the streets to Parliament under the leadership of former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav," he said and appealed to party men to register their protest in a peaceful manner.