Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son and party MLA Tej Pratap Yadav on Thursday sent 50,000 postcard letter to President Ram Nath Kovind requesting him to release the former Bihar Chief Minister from jail on humanitarian grounds.
Calling the letter ‘Azadi Patra’, Tej Pratap Yadav said that the campaign will continue until his father is released.
“We are collecting these letters written by followers of Lalu Ji from Bihar and India. This campaign will continue until he is released. I will request President to give time to meet me,” he said in Patna.
“I am appealing to all to write the letter and submit it to us and we will send to the President of India,” he added.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on the advice of the State Medical Board. He reached Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport on Saturday evening from where he will be airlifted to Delhi.
Dr Umesh Prasad, Lalu’s physician had said last month that Yadav’s kidney was functioning at 25 percent capacity and his situation could take a turn for the worse.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had been in prison since December 2017, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2018 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and seven years under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the fodder scam case. Both the sentences are being served consecutively.
The case pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crores from the Dumka treasury by Animal Husbandry Department officials between 1991 and 1996 when Yadav served as the State’s Chief Minister.