Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s visit to controversial former Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Anirudh Prasad — alias Sadhu Yadav, brother-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, has evoked a sharp reaction from party leaders. “The Chief Minister should shun such activities of visiting people having a criminal background whose name had created terror in the State. It brings a bad name not only to the party but also to the government,” said JD(U) legislator and party spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.
He further added that Mr. Manjhi should take forward the good governance started by his predecessor Nitish Kumar. .“Even RJD chief Lalu Prasad has kept himself away from him [Sadhu Yadav],” Mr Kumar told The Hindu .Recently, huge amounts of hard cash and ornaments were stolen from Sadhu Yadav’s house and he was subsequently served an income-tax notice after the stolen money and ornaments were recovered.
Former RJD leader and party MP from Gopalganj, Sadhu Yadav’s name spelt terror in the State during the previous RJD regime, with incidents of intimidation and extortion. Later, with regime-change, Sadhu Yadav switched political loyalty to the Congress.
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Lalu Prasad has allegedly counselled Mr Manjhi not to “act or speak in a way which would embarrass Nitish Kumar.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Manjhi left on a pilgrimage to Nasik and Shirdi . He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 20 in Delhi to demand special grants for Bihar.
CM should not visit people with criminal background: JD(U) spokesperson