Ranchi: Within hours of Jharkhand Governor Drapudi Murmu inviting JMM working president Hemant Soren to form the government, the authorities on Wednesday relaxed the rules for meeting RJD president Lalu Prasad, who is in a prison ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Institute, here.
Prasad's son Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav was allowed to meet the RJD leader today. According to the jail rules, only Saturday meetings with Prasad are allowed. Last week, Tejashwi was denied a meeting with his father as he had reached the ward late by ten minutes.
Tejashwi said his father would not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Hemant Soren cabinet on December 29. He has declined the offer to be released on parol. RJD has one member in the new assembly.
During his previous detention in 2013-14, when Hemant was the chief minister, ministers also visited the jail daily. Even the chief minister himself used to call on Prasad and his ministers served home-made food to him.
The scene changed drastically when the Raghubar Das-led BJP government came to power. Strict regulations were enforced and even Prasad's family members were not allowed to visit the jail except on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Soren who met the AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, said they would be attending the swearing-in ceremony.
Soren has also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the grand function scheduled on Sunday.