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Jailed Lalu Prasad Yadav appoints wife as party's national vice president

His two sons and daughter are also appointed to the executive committee

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Former Bihar chief minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav arrives to appear before the special CBI court on Tuesday.
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Incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav appears to be tightening his grip on the party as he reconstituted the party's national executive committee on Thursday and appointed his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi as RJD's vice president. The move appears to be his bid to manage the party's day-to-day operations even as he remains behind bars.

Devi has already been chairing party meetings in the absence of Lalu, who was jailed in December 2017 following his conviction in one of the many fodder scam cases against him. With Devi's elevation, speculations related to party's leadership in the absence of Lalu — who awaits verdict in three other fodder scam cases — have been put to rest. Wednesday's events also harken back to 1997 when Lalu had crowned Devi as the CM of Bihar before his arrest in the fodder scam cases.

The BJP, on its part, called it an "insult" to Devi and said she should have been made the party's "international patron", not just one of the five vice-presidents of the RJD.

The national executive also includes Lalu's sons Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav and daughter Misa Bharti as members, prompting rivals to call it "a family affair".

Friend-turned-foe Janata Dal (United) also took a dig at the RJD for being "the first political outfit whose national president was constituting working committees from inside a jail". "Lalu is running the RJD from the prison and the new list proves that his family dominates the party. He should even have included his son-in-law in the list," said Sanjay Singh, MLC and chief spokesperson of the JD (U).

In the shuffle, strongman turned politician Mohammad Shahabuddin — currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail — was replaced by his wife Hena Shahab as a member of the national executive committee. The JD (U) alleged it to be RJD's "dual standards" with party spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar saying, "If Shahabuddin was removed from the list for being convicted, why does Lalu get to remain the party's national president? Is this their minority love?

When will Lalu be removed?"

The JD (U) leaders have already been claiming of dissatisfaction within the RJD ranks and political experts said the inclusions and deletions in the list were bound to lead to more chaos in the party.

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