Ranchi, July 4 : Jailed former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad has applied for bail in the Chaibasa treasury fraudulent withdrawal case in the run-up to the Bihar Assembly polls.

On Saturday the RJD chief met political leaders at the paying ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) where he is undergoing treatment.

Lalu Prasad has applied for bail in the Jharkhand High Court. Earlier, he had been granted bail in three fodder scam cases.

According to Lalu”s lawyer, he has applied for bail on the ground that he has spent half of the prison term in jail. Lalu has been in custody since December 23, 2017, after his conviction in three different cases related to the fodder scam. He was granted provisional bail for treatment in May 2018 which was later cancelled by the Jharkhand High court. He has been undergoing treatment in RIMS since August 2018.

“The Bihar Assembly polls are crucial for the RJD”s survival. Lalu cannot bank on his two sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav for the elections. The RJD did not manage to secure a single seat in Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls which was humiliating for the party,” said a RJD leader to IANS.

In 2015 Nitish Kumar, currently Chief Minister of Bihar, and Lalu Prasad had joined hands for the Assembly polls and won more than 150 of the 240 seats. Nitish Kumar, however, parted ways from the RJD after one and a half years in 2017.

New Delhi, July 4 : Criticising the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi termed it as “jungle raj” during a video conference with party leaders on Saturday. The virtual meeting was called to discuss what the Congress called the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Priyanka alleged during the course of the meeting that, “Uttar Pradesh has turned into a jungle raj. Even police personnel are not safe here. The law and order in the state has collapsed because of the alliance between criminals, ruling party leaders and officials.” She said that the morale of criminals has been boosted in the state.

This sharp attack comes soon after eight police personnel, including a circle officer, were shot dead and six policemen seriously injured when a local criminal, Vikas Dubey, and his gang sprayed bullets on them in Vikru village under Chaubeypur police circle in Kanpur in the wee hours of Friday.

Alleging that criminals are enjoying political protection, Priyanka Gandhi asked Congress leaders to “expose” the BJP in front of the people. She has asked party workers to run a campaign against the state government for this purpose. The meeting also discussed the strategy for the forthcoming panchayat elections the state where law and order will be one of the main electoral issues for the Congress.

Congress State President Ajay Kumar Lallu along with Aradhana Mishra, Rajiv Shukla, Jitin Prasad, Brijlal Khabari, Pradeep Jain, Imran Masood among others attended the virtual meet.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also raised questions about the safety of the common people in Uttar Pradesh. “Another proof of hooliganism in Uttar Pradesh. When the police are not safe, how will the public be?” Rahul Gandhi said, quoting a news report.

New Delhi, July 4 : While tension between India and China continues to be high, the bickering between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress is also no less.

Taking recourse to history, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said Nehru was unrelenting on China drawing its own LAC and claimed that China during his time accepted that the Galwan Valley belongs to India.

“The term, Line of Actual Control, or LAC, was coined by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1956 and then repeated in 1959, and during and following the 1962 war. After China”s invasion of India, Zhou Enlai sent Nehru a letter asking India to accept the 1959 Chinese claim line and saying China was willing to withdraw 20 kms from this claim line,” said the Congress on Saturday.

It went on to claim, “In response, Nehru”s letter of November 4 said Zhou”s proposal was nothing short of a victor”s diktat.”

The Congress on Saturday quoted Nehru where he wrote, “The demand for India to accept the Chinese 1959 line is a demand to which India will never submit whatever the consequences and, however, long and hard the struggle may be.”

Taking a sharp jibe at the Centre, the Congress alleged that the Chinese who in the 1959 line clearly depicted the entire Galwan Valley in India has now formally laid claim for the first time ever to the “entire Galwan Valley.”

This attack comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while at Leh, said in a clear warning to China without naming it, “Age of expansionism is over.”

Addressing India”s armed forces, he said, “Age of expansionism is over, this is the age of development. History has been witness that expansionist forces have either lost or were forced to go back.”

This assertion by the Indian Prime Minister in the Ladakh region was extremely significant given the ongoing tension at the border with China in eastern Ladakh, barely 18 days after a violent standoff.