The Congress Party on Monday refrained from commenting on the conviction of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam case, and only said the law is taking its course.
Lalu has so far been a close ally of the UPA Government at the Centre and his arrest will compel the ruling Congress Party to look for new alliance partners in Bihar.
Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken, however, said that it would be too early to say anything on political alignment and re-alignment in Bihar and Jharkhand.
"It would be too early to say anything on political alignment and re-alignment of the Congress party in Bihar and Jharkhand. Whatever will happen, the time will only tell as of now, whatever the judgment in the court have come, law is taking its course and we don't have any comments on what law decide and how law proceeds," he told media here.
Talking about the ordinance on convicted politicians, Maken said Congress vice-president has very clearly put forward the views of the ruling party in this regard.
"As far as the ordinance is concern, the comments of Congress party through our vice president Rahul Gandhi is well known to every one. On September 27, Rahulji had aired his views on ordinance and that is stand of Congress Party," he said.
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In a major blow to RJD before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Lalu was today convicted by a special CBI court in Ranchi in a fodder scam case that disqualifies him from Parliament and renders him ineligible for contesting elections for at least six years.
The RJD chief, who faces a minimum jail term of three years and a maximum of seven years, has now been taken into custody and taken to Ranchi's Birsa Munda Jail.
As per a recent Supreme Court verdict, a legislator convicted in a case where the minimum sentence is two years in jail will lose his or her seat immediately.
Another 44 accused, including former Bihar Chief Minister Dr. Jagannath Mishra, six politicians and four IAS officers, were also convicted by court of Pravas Kumar Singh for fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa treasury.
The court has fixed October 3 for pronouncement of sentence against Yadav, Mishra and others.
The fodder scam also known as "Chara Ghotala" involved the siphoning of funds from the Bihar Government treasury. The alleged theft spanned over several years, and many Bihar state government administrative and elected officials across multiple administrations were allegedly engaged in it.
The fodder scam was unearthed in Bihar in 1996 when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister of the state. He had resigned from the post in 1997 after a court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with one of the cases.
