Patna: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has moved the Supreme Court against Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bail, almost one and half years after the Jharkhand high court granted him relief in connection with the fodder scam cases. The CBI petitioned the apex court on August 18 to cancel bail to Lalu on the plea that he had not completed half of his sentence in the prison. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter later this week.The Jharkhand high court granted regular bail to Lalu in April 2022 on the ground that the latter had spent half of his sentence in the five fodder scam cases. The HC had granted him bail under section of 436-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) supported by the Supreme Court’s directive to grant the same to the accused concerned if they had completed half of the sentence.The lower court concerned had convicted him for five to seven years in five cases of the scam from 2013 to 2016. Now, the CBI’s move has puzzled and distressed his supporters and many sections of the legal and political circles across the country. “The Jharkhand HC had rejected bail to Lalu twice after the CBI opposed it on the plea that he hadn’t completed half of the term. It granted him bail only after it was fully satisfied that Lalu had lived in the jail beyond half of his sentence”, Dev Prakash, senior Patna high court lawyer said.“CBI ne upar waalon ke nirdesh par aisa kiya hoga (‘the CBI might have done it at the instruction of higher ups – read political masters),” Dev Prakash said. Several lawyers in the Jharkhand and Patna high courts this writer spoke to were of the view that the cancellation of bail would be a rare move. “The Supreme Court has the power to cancel the accused person’s bail in case of the latter violating the conditions of the bail. The CBI’s plea shouldn’t stand in the SC,” a Ranchi based lawyer said.Lalu’s son and Bihar deputy chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav reacting to the CBI’s move said, “We won’t be cowed down…ladengein aur jitengein (‘we will fight and win’).” After the CBI moved the SC against Lalu Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar rushed to Lalu’s home at Patna, to express his solidarity with the RJD chief.Also read: How Lalu Prasad Yadav Never Lost His Political RelevanceIdeological NarrativeWith the INDIA alliance gaining in strength and consolidating its position, it would appear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP is anxious and even jittery in states like Bihar and Maharashtra, where a coming together of anti-BJP forces can have a direct bearing on the BJP’s electoral prospects. Political observers believe that the CBI’s action against Lalu is a part of the BJP’s “larger design” to destabilise the INDIA alliance.Nitish Kumar – a significant leader of INDIA – has been focusing on building an ideological narrative against Narendra Modi. A day after the PM spent most of his time and energy in his Independence Day speech against the INDIA parties, the Bihar CM landed in Delhi to pay his tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the latter’s death anniversary.“I can never forget Vajpayee ji. He made me a member of his cabinet and played the pivotal role in making me Bihar CM in 2005. He loved us immensely. I have highest respect for him”, Nitish said after paying his homage to Vajpayee. Most importantly, the CM used the occasion to attack Narendra Modi on the issue of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).Nitish Kumar with Lalu Prasad Yadav. Photo: Twitter/@laluprasadrjd“The NDA was formed under Vajpayee ji’s stewardship in 1999. We were all part of it. Vajpayee ji used to call NDA’s meeting as long as he was active. What he (Narendra Modi) has to do with NDA? He (Modi) never called NDA’s meet after he became PM in 2014. Now he is calling it after we have formed INDIA”, Nitish said.Reacting to Nitish’s remarks, senior BJP leader and MP (Rajya Sabha), Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitish by praising Atal ji (A B Vajpayee)-L K Advani, and attacking Narendra Modi is trying to create a division in the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). It won’t work”.Sushil Modi – a veteran leader equipped with experience to read and understand Nitish – is largely correct in his observation. Nitish, perhaps, knows that the BJP has a large number of leaders grown under the ‘tutelage’ of Vajpayee and L K Advani, who are opposed to Modi injecting excessive militancy and hate against the minorities among the BJP cadres.By paying tribute to Vajpayee at his death anniversary the “astute” Bihar CM has addressed to ‘liberal sections’ of the saffron party, indicating that he was not opposed to the BJP as whole, but to Narendra Modi’s brand of “totalitarian” politics. The PM, perhaps, is still struggling about how exactly to counter INDIA alliance leaders – particularly Nitish, and particularly Hindi-belt leaders – on ideological issues. The INDIA parties have repeatedly accused Modi and his aide and Union home minister Amit Shah of misusing the central investigating agencies against their political rivals.Also read: Bihar: Questions Raised Over Selective Pursuit of Opposition by Investigative AgenciesCBI and ED TangoIt has been consistently maintained by the opposition that the ruling dispensation at the Centre has been brazenly using the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate against its political opponents. Four days after the Supreme Court extended the service of its director Sanjay Kumar Mishra till September 15, the ED attached the property of Lalu and his family members worth Rs six crore in the beginning of the current month. The CBI and ED are relentless against Lalu and his family after Nitish dumped the BJP in August 2022 and joined the Mahagathbandhan with the RJD, Congress and Left parties in Bihar. The CBI and ED had opened two railways related cases against the family, despite the cases having been closed, and have raided Lalu’s property, questioned Tejashwi, their family members and have framed them in multiple cases.However, the CBI and ED had so far been pursuing the cases related to the Railways against Lalu and family. They were silent on the fodder scam after Lalu had secured regular bail in it in April 2022. But the CBI having suddenly found reasons to question Lalu’s bail, just months before the general elections should be no surprise to INDIA leaders.Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author, media educator and independent researcher on folklore.