Patna: In another setback to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad, the Narendra Modi government on Saturday cancelled his direct access to the Patna airport tarmac as part of the move to end the VIP culture among the Indian politicians.

Both Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi — both former chief ministers of Bihar — had, so far, been enjoying unrestricted access to the Patna airport runway with their vehicles. But in a sudden development, the Federal Civil Aviation Ministry on Saturday has withdrawn this order.

“It has now been decided that the permission accorded to Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav (his official name is Lalu Prasad) and Mrs Rabri Devi may be withdrawn forthwith,” reads a letter of the Federal Ministry of Civil Aviation sent to the Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

The missive has further directed the BCAS to take immediate action to issue necessary instruction in this regard to all concerned so as to ensure implementation of the government’s decision.

Earlier in May this year, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a crackdown on the VIP culture when he declared the removal of red beacons atop vehicles of ministers. “Every Indian is special. Every Indian is a VIP. It (VIP culture) should have gone long ago,” was how the Prime Minister had said in a series of tweets.

The ban order comes at a time when the RJD chief family is facing a number of corruption cases against them. While his younger son Tejashwi Yadav who is deputy chief minister in the Nitish Kumar government has been named accused in a corruption case along with parents by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), his elder son and health minister Tej Pratap Yadav has his petrol pump licence cancelled by the public sector oil firm for submitting fake information.

Likewise, Prasad’s eldest daughter and parliamentarian Misa Bharti is facing probe from the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate in money laundering case.

To make the matter worse, Prasad himself has been named accused in at least five fodder scam cases trials in which have now picked up momentum. The Supreme Court has directed the trial courts to complete trials all such cases within nine months, forcing the septuagenarian leader to make rounds of the courts on almost each day in Ranchi, some 340km south of Patna.

The RJD chief suffered a major disappointment on Friday when a trial court judge rejected his request about not to appear in person in the court.

During the hearing of a case on Friday, the RJD chief stood up from his seat and requested the judge to exempt him from his routine presence in the court. “Sir, please exempt me from routine appearance in the court. My presence will not hamper the hearing in the case as my lawyers and witnesses will already be there,” he reasoned.

But the judge didn’t consider his request saying, “Farming works naturally get disturbed when a farmer is absent from the farmland. You are required to be regularly present in the court during the course of hearing as the Supreme Court has ordered to conclude the trial within nine months”.