Lalu Yadav files application for passport release to travel abroad for Kidney transplant

Amid reports of his ill health, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav filed an application on May 11 at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi seeking the release of his passport for renewal as he has to travel abroad. His lawyer, Prabhat Kumar confirmed the news, stating that the former Bihar Chief Minister has been diagnosed with Kidney failure and needs to fly out of India for a transplant. 

Hearing on application on June 10 

Underlining that most probably the veteran leader will travel to Singapore, Kumar said that the process for an appointment with the doctor over there is underway. "When the date of an appointment gets fixed, a fresh plea will be filed in all five cases he is convicted seeking permission for foreign travel,” he said, adding that the hearing on the application is scheduled on June 10. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Lalu Yadav is in Jharkhand's Palamu from June 6 to June 8, to appear before the special MP, MLA court in a 27-year-old case of alleged model code of conduct violation. The case is related to the 1995 state assembly election when the RJD supremo was to address a public rally in Garhwa town. The ground in Garhwa was quite crowded, and the pilot found it problematic to land the chopper at the designated spot, so he landed at the adjacent paddy field. This led to the Model Code of Conduct violation case. 

Change of guard in RJD? 

Meanwhile, a change of guard seems likely in the RJD, as a meeting of party members took place in Patna, Bihar, on May 31. In the meeting convened by incumbent supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, there was a discussion on whether the reins of RJD would be given to Tejashwi Yadav.

It was concluded that while Lalu Yadav will continue to hold the key party post, all the decisions taken henceforth, including the nomination of party members to the Upper House of the Parliament, will have the stamp of his younger son.