Lalu a victim of 'political ill-will', says Tariq Anwar

Senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar on Sunday alleged that the conviction of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case was the result of "political ill-will" and the CBI had "worked under pressure". 

The NCP leader was reacting to a special CBI court in Ranchi yesterday convicting Prasad and 15 others in a fodder scam case, 21 years after it had surfaced, while acquitting six others, including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra. 

"Whatever has happened to Lalu Prasad is an outcome of rajneetik dwesh (political ill will). But he is bound to get relief from the High Court when he appeals against the trial court's decision", Anwar, who is the local Lok Sabha member, told reporters here. 

Anwar alleged "Madhya Pradesh witnessed such a huge Vyapam scam. But we did not see any serious action. This makes one suspect that there could have been more to Yadav's conviction that meets the eye and the CBI had worked under pressure in his case". 

He said "BJP may have retained Gujarat but the number of seats held by it in the assembly there has fallen sharply. The results in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state have come as a lesson to all opposition parties that they should bury their differences and unitedly fight against communal forces represented by the saffron party".