As RJD chief Lalu Prasad appeared before the CBI on Thursday for questioning in the land-for-hotel scam and his younger son Tejaswi Yadav to follow suit on Friday, the RJD is faced with the possibility of their arrest.
For the last two days, party leaders have been holding meetings to chalk out the future strategy to meet any “crisis.”
On Wednesday, RJD leaders and legislators were called for an emergency meeting at Mr. Prasad’s residence.
Senior party leader Jagdanand Singh presided over the meeting in the presence of Rabri Devi, wife of Mr. Prasad and their elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. Party insiders confirmed to The Hindu that the leaders discussed the course of action in the possible absence of Mr. Prasad and his heir apparent Tejaswi. “The BJP wants to send Lalu Prasad to jail so that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls can be met without any opposition but the RJD will not let it happen”, Mr. Singh said.
Most of the leaders said the meet was not prompted by the fear of Mr. Prasad’s arrest but to chalk out strategies for the upcoming Parliamentary and State Assembly elections in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
However, in a surprise move, the RJD decided to hold its national council meeting on November 20 to elect the national president, much before Mr. Prasad’s three-year tenure ends on January 17, 2019.