RJD will not split due to Lalu's jail sentence: Tejashwi

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said the three-and-a-half-year jail sentence to party supremo Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case will not lead to a split in the party.

The former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister also said an appeal will be filed in the Jharkhand High Court. 

"There will be no trouble or any negative impact on the party. The RJD's history has been that of struggle amid conspiracies against it. Laluji had to go to jail many times... but he came out every time. That time too, people said it (party) had split or predicted that it may split. Instead, it grew stronger," Yadav, Lalu's son, told the media.

Lalu Prasad, a former Chief Minister of Bihar, had support from across the country and he had indicated in a rally that there could be a conspiracy against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Yadav said. 

"The Centre has misused the central agency (CBI)," Yadav, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, said.

He said the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders must understand their party had actually split, not the RJD. 

"People are watching everything. Conspiracies are always hatched in order to suppress and scare Laluji. However, people gave a befitting reply every time," he said.

He said the party had faith in the judiciary and they would get justice. "We are hopeful that Laluji will be among us very soon. We will try to address where we fell short. We will appeal in the High Court," he said. 

Lalu Prasad was on Saturday sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail in a fodder scam case. He was the Chief Minister of the undivided state from 1990 to 1997.

The special CBI court had on December 23 convicted Lalu Prasad and 15 others in the case relating to a multi-million-rupee scam. - IANS