Ranchi: RJD national vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Bihar unit president Ram Chandra Purbey and Jharkhand unit chief Annapurna Devi on Sunday compared jailed party chief Lalu Prasad to Raja Harishchandra, Lord Ram and the Pandavs.

"What crime had Lord Ram and the Pandavs committed to face banishment? What crime had Raja Harishchandra committed for being forced to sell himself as a slave to the owner of a cremation ground? Whosoever has stood for truth, for the poor and the downtrodden has been prosecuted," Singh said at the RJD's Jharkhand headquarters in Dibdih.

Purbey and Annapurna Devi claimed Lalu had been falsely framed by "forces opposed to social justice".

Purbey added: "Our mythology has umpteen examples of how crusaders were hunted and punished."

Singh urged party workers not to be disheartened: "We will fight this political conspiracy from judicial courts to the people's court. The acquittal of former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra has fuelled suspicion in people's minds on how for the same crime one is convicted and another walks free."