Bihar BJP leaders furious as senior Jharkhand minister Saryu Rai calls on Lalu
Patna,(BiharTimes): There are several red faces in the Bihar unit of Bharatiya Janata Party as a senior minister of the party from Jharkhand, Saryu Rai, called on Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad at the 10-Circular Road bungalow. The saffron party leaders of Bihar are so upset that they are even thinking in terms of complaining to the top party leadership and are hoping that action would be taken against Saryu Rai.
Members of Lalu family were also present at the time of the meeting which lasted about 30 minutes. Though Saryu denied that there was anything political in the meeting and that he had called on Lalu simply because he has not been keeping up well, the BJP leaders are of the view that this is just a lame
excuse as the RJD chief is not in hospital.
The BJP leaders were more furious because of the timing of the meeting as it came just a day after Republic TV aired the alleged telephonic conversation between Shahabuddin and Lalu Prasad. Senior BJP leaders are of the view that if one of the fodder scam petitioners calls on Lalu Prasad at such a crucial juncture it certainly sends a very wrong message.
Though Lalu was convicted in the fodder scam case Saryu Rai told mediapersons on Sunday that he had an old friendship with RJD chief and that he had also visited the RJD chief when he was lodged in
Ranchi jail. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi avoided saying anything openly by stating that Saryu Rai belongs to a different state where he is a minister. It is for Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das and the state unit of BJP to take a call on it.
As the meeting came only several hours after a Bihar BJP delegation called on the Governor Ramnath Kovind seeking action against Lalu for allegedly having a telephonic conversation with a jailed mafia Saryu rai’s action has greatly embarrassed the Bihar BJP.
Saryu, who is originally from Bihar side of the undivided Bihar, is a seasoned BJP leader from the very beginning and not a turn-coat who had joined the party recently. He was even in the race for the post of
chief minister of Jharkhand. In early 1990s he used to regularly write on floods and rivers in Hindi dailies of Bihar. Incidentally, another fodder scam petitioner, Shivanand Tiwari, a few days back came out strongly in favour of Lalu and criticized Sushil Modi for levelling baseless charges. But Shivanand was never in BJP, so it was easy for the party to flay him.
