Lalu Prasad Yadav gets 5 year jail term, loses Parliamentary seat

Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav has been sentenced to five years in jail, a conviction that would effectively mean that he loses his Lok Sabha seat in Parliament. He was also set a fine of Rs 25 lakh. The RJD has already said that they will appeal the sentence. Apart from Lalu’s 5 yrs, former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra and sitting JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma who were among the other high profile figures convicted in the case were sentenced to four years each in prison. They are presently lodged at the Birsa Munda Central jail along with other fodder scam convicts. [caption id=“attachment_1149379” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lalu Prasad Yadav at the Ranchi court. Reuters.[/caption] The Special CBI court has granted bail to eight of the convicts as they had been sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment, a prison term that allows the convict to move for bail in the same court. The sentence will reportedly be conveyed to Lalu and the other convicts via video conferencing. With the union Cabinet endorsing Rahul’s disapproval of the government’s ordinance on criminal MPs, the options have quite literally run out for Lalu Prasad Yadav. Apprehending a similar fate, however, Lalu is said to have made extensive arrangements to make sure that his party runs without hiccups. Following his conviction, Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi said that she and his sons will run RJD in her husband’s absence. BJP, on the other hand, has taken on all the parties in Bihar saying that corruption plagues RJD, JD(U) and the Congress in Bihar. With Lalu’s sentencing, they might look towards upping their ante in the state. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had said on the day of Lalu’s conviction that his disqualification for the House, as per the Supreme Court, will be considered only after the final sentencing takes place. The formalities involved in the process are yet to worked out. With inputs from PTI