Patna: A local court in Bihar has allowed a ruling party lawmaker accused of raping a minor girl to cast his vote in the presidential elections to be held on July 17.
Raj Ballabh Yadav who hails from Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is currently lodged in a local jail in connection with the crime.
Reports said the lawmaker had recently prayed to the court to allow him to cast his vote in the presidential elections. After considering his request, the court has allowed the rape-accused lawmaker to join the process to elect a person to the country’s topmost constitutional job, reports said.
The RJD suspended the lawmaker after he was made accused in the rape case. But this kicked up a major controversy when he rushed to the residence of RJD chief Prasad in Patna in October last year to extend “Durga Puja greetings”.
Yadav shot into infamy after he was accused of luring a teenaged schoolgirl to his residence in Nawada district and raping her through blackmail. The incident which took place in February last year drew strong protests and condemnations from all quarters. The accused went into hiding soon after the case was registered against him and surrendered well over a month later under heavy police pressure.
The rape-accused lawmaker in all probability will be voting for opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar since he is known to be a hard-core follower of the RJD chief who has announced his support for the “daughter of Bihar”. Kumar who is a daughter of Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram hails from Bihar.
She is pitted against NDA’s candidate Ram Nath Kovind who too has strong Bihar connection. He was serving as the Governor of Bihar when he was named the presidential nominee.
The Janata Dal United (JD-U) headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar has, on the other hand, announced its support to Kovind in sharp contrast to his other two allies, RJD and the Congress party.
