Patna, Apr 17 (IANS): Senior BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday claimed that jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad seeked the help of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to influence the CBI in the fodder scam cases.

Lalu had requested Jaitley to stop the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from challenging the Jharkhand High Court verdict in favour of him in the Supreme Court (SC).

"When the Jharkhand High Court gave the verdict in favour of Lalu Prasad, ruling that there was no need for a trial in the other cases related to the fodder scam, the CBI went to the SC challenging the decision. After that Lalu Prasad approached Jaitely to help him," Sushil Modi told the media on the eve of the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in which five constituencies in Bihar go to the polls.

He further said that when the CBI went to the apex court, Lalu sent his messenger Prem Gupta to meet Jaitley, urging him not to let the CBI appeal to the SC in the case. He said if they get help, "24 ghante mein Nitish Kumar ka ilaaj kar dunga (Will fix Nitish Kumar in 24 hours)," Sushil Modi alleged.

He said later both Lalu Prasad and Prem Gupta met Jaitley and offered to topple the Nitish Kumar government. "Arun Jaitley clearly said that we can't interfere in CBI's functioning as it is an autonomous institution," Sushil Modi claimed.

He also called Lalu Prasad an opportunist. "Lalu Prasad took BJP-RSS' help in the past. He took help from the BJP-RSS during elections."

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has reacted strongly to the allegations made by Sushil Modi and demanded evidences for the claims made by him.