Lalu Prasad Yadav says 'going to jail will only increase my votes'

India's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav speaks during a meeting with his party workers in the eastern Indian city of Patna June 20, 2009. REUTERS/Krishna Murari Kishan (INDIA POLITICS) - RTR24UMC

Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, while taking on his foes, said that even if he went to jail in the rail tender scam case his party would remain unaffected and his vote base would likely soar in upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections for 2019 and 2020.

As per an India Today report, Lalu while speaking at the book launch of rebel JD-U leader Ali Anwar’s compilation of speeches in Parliament, “I want to say is if I have to go to jail, there will only be an increase in votes for me.”

The RJD Chief also spared no chance in taking a hit at Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a “desh ka badshah” under whose leadership the democracy was being mocked and made fun of.

Lalu’s comment follows Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's statement that the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI, and the Income Tax department had strong evidence of benami transactions against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and his family members.

Modi has even gone on to state that “they will not only face charge sheet but also be sent to jail and awarded punishment.”

He also compared the present political situation to that of tanashahi (autocracy). Lalu further added that people are afraid of even being spotted with a cow. Fringe Hindu outfits would come out with swords to teach the person a lesson, the report quoted him as saying.

The RJD Chief on Saturday predicted that the Congress was all set to win Gujarat as “people have voted heavily in its favour in the first phase of the polls."

Earlier, Prasad’s younger son Tajeashwi Prasad Yadav had accused JDU President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of fielding candidates in Gujarat too eat into Patel votes and benefit the BJP.

Tejashwi Yadav, who is Prasad's younger son, had termed the action by the ED as "political vendetta" and questioned why the agencies had failed to file a charge sheet even after five months of lodging of the FIR.