Kamal Ghorui
Patna: Amid allegations of political vendetta and protests in his support, leaders of the ruling NDA on Sunday described the arrest of Purnia MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, in a 31-year-old case as part of a legal and judicial process.Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president and Union minister Chirag Paswan said while political uproar and drama were one thing, the law applied equally to everyone. “If your actions are right, there is no reason to fear; have faith in the country’s judicial process. But if you have committed a crime, you will not be spared,” he told reporters in his home constituency of Hajipur.Chirag said no MP could be arrested without concrete evidence and solid grounds. He questioned the atmosphere of fear that was being created around the arrest and reiterated that in the NDA govt, justice and humanity went hand in hand. “If someone is innocent, no harm will be done to him. But if someone is found guilty, neither influence, position, nor politics will be able to save him,” he said.Responding to opposition protests linking Pappu’s arrest to his forceful raising of the Jehanabad medical aspirant’s alleged rape and death case, Chirag launched a sharp attack on the Congress and the RJD. He said it was their old habit to brand every action as political vendetta, whereas the present matter was about upholding the law and not political revenge.Another Union minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi said the arrest of the Purnia MP was not linked to any recent development but related to an old case. He refrained from making further comments, describing it as a legal process, but acknowledged that Pappu Yadav had vocally raised the issue of the NEET student death case.Commenting on the arrest, Janshakti Janata Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav said Pappu had raised certain issues. “He has been framed in an old case and put behind bars. The atmosphere has been deliberately vitiated. The govt should take cognisance of the matter,” he said.Senior BJP leader and Union minister Nityanand Rai, however, denied any vindictive intent behind the police action. “If someone breaks the law, encroaches on someone’s house, or an FIR is filed and a judicial warrant is issued, then the police will take action,” he said.JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said the Purnia MP had been absconding and that a confiscation order had been issued against him. “If a bail petition is filed in the judiciary, it should not be claimed that his arrest is due to the NEET aspirant death case. How can one say this when the judiciary had declared him absconding and issued a non-bailable warrant and a confiscation order against him?” he asked.
