Lalu Prasad appears before ED in Patna over land-for-jobs scam

Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Wednesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate, which had summoned him in connection with its probe into land-for-jobs scam, officials said.

A large number of RJD workers gathered on the street leading to the central agency's Bank Road office here, and slogans in praise of the ailing septuagenarian rent the air.

On Tuesday, Prasad's wife Rabri Devi and elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, both named as co-accused in the case, had been grilled by the agency for close to four hours.

Meanwhile, Prasad's younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, who is also named as an accused, told reporters elsewhere, "The more we are harassed, the stronger we shall become. Of course, the case is politically motivated. Had I not been in politics, I would not have been dragged into this. I had predicted after the Delhi assembly elections that now the agencies will turn their gaze towards Bihar."

The land-for-jobs scam pertains to the period when the RJD supremo was the Railway Minister in the first term of the Congress-led UPA government.