The milky secret of Lalu’s wealth

PATNA, March 13:

Ever wondered which industry prospered the most in Bihar during the RJD regime other than kidnapping? According to the latest Bihar Economic Survey it was dairy, the business which the families of Mr Lalu Prasad and his wife Mrs Rabri Devi have been involved in for the last three decades and which, they claim, is their main source of income. The 2006-2007 report prepared by the ruling National Democratic Government in Bihar, shows milk production shot up by 92 per cent during the last five years of Bihar chief minister Mrs Rabri Devi’s tenure. Figures show a whopping 26.32 lakh litres of milk was produced in Bihar in 2001-02, followed by 28.69 lakh in 2002-03, 31.75 lakh in 2003-04 and 47.43 lakh in 2004-05. Significantly, dairy remains the main “official” business of the RJD chief Mr Prasad and his wife. It was on the basis of this business that the Yadav couple proved in the special designated CBI court trying him in a Disproportionate Assets case that the money the CBI accused of amassing fraudulently was actually income from their dairy. In the charge sheet, the CBI had accused Mr Prasad of allegedly possessing more than Rs 46 lakh disproportionate to his known source of income while he was chief minister between 1990 and 1997. His wife was accused of abetting her husband. After convincing the court that Rs 42 lakh had indeed come from the dairy business alone the couple was acquitted on 18 December last year. The couple currently has more than 100 cows at their farmhouse in Danapur, 12 km from Patna. Earlier, while she was in power, the cows were kept on land at Mrs Devi’s official CM residence. Mr Prasad would proudly show them off to visiting foreign journalists. The other business that burgeoned during the RJD regime was the sale of meat, which Lalu was known to love. According to the economic survey, meat sales in Bihar grew by more than 12 per cent during the RJD regime. A total of 1.56 lakh tons of meat was sold in 2001-02, reaching 1.76 lakh tons in 2004-05. Reportedly Lalu relished meat until Lord Shiva visited him in his dreams while he was in a Ranchi jail in connection with the fodder scams cases. The god advised him to renounce his meat-eating habits as this would help him overcome the crisis. “I caught my ears by my hands and instantly quit non-vegetarian food. Surprisingly enough, soon after that I was released on bail”, the Union railway minister has claimed.