"Lalu Prasad is a hero and will remain a hero in future too," said his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi soon after a CBI court in Ranchi today sentenced the RJD president to five years in jail in a multi-crore fodder scam case.
Rabri Devi was quoted by RJD secretary general and close confidante Ramkripal Yadav as having also said that her husband has fallen victim to 'conspiracy'.
The CBI court besides sentencing him to jail for five years also ordered him to pay a penalty of Rs 25 lakh.
She remained inside her official 10 Circular Road residence, barely a stone's throw from the Chief Minister's residence, watching the entire proceedings on TV.
While elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is with his mother the younger Tejaswi Yadav, considered heir apparent of the RJD chief, is still in Ranchi.
Ramkripal Yadav came out of the residence and told reporters that the family was 'not demoralised' by the court order which would disqualify Prasad as MP and debar him from contesting elections in near future.
"We were expecting this ... We are not demoralised," Yadav, RJD Rajya Sabha member said and blamed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP for 'conspiring' against the RJD chief in the fodder scam.
"The party rank and file have taken this as a challenge which we are committed to fight strongly," he said adding a meeting of RJD leaders has been called on October 6 at Patna to chalk out its future strategy.
The RJD office wore a deserted look after the court verdict against party supremo. Majority of the senior leaders are out of the state capital.