RJD chief Lalu Yadav then refused to answer further questions about rape accused Raj Ballabh Yadav.
Lalu Yadav, chief of Bihar's ruling RJD, bristled with anger today when asked about the visit to his Patna residence on Thursday of a lawmaker accused of raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
"Yes, he had come to meet me. I met him. He spoke about the case. If someone comes to meet you, will you turn him away?" said Lalu Yadav about agreeing to meet the lawmaker, Raj Ballabh Yadav, whose visit was seen as a signal that he has powerful connections.
Lalu Yadav curtly said he would answer no more questions about Raj Ballabh Yadav, who, he said, also intended to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in whose government the RJD is an ally.
Raj Ballabh Yadav was released on bail from prison last weekend. The schoolgirl he allegedly raped in February this year sent a message on Whatsapp to journalist and activists, seeking the intervention of the Chief Minister, saying, "I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them? I am already dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose."
Her father, who owns a small shop in their village about 105 km from capital Patna, told NDTV on Thursday, "If this man is out (free), I cannot fight him. My girl will be finished."
Nitish Kumar's government has asked the Supreme Court to cancel Raj Ballabh Yadav's bail. On Friday, the top court said it would hear the case on October 17 after a 10-day vacation, asking Raj Bhallabh Yadav why it should not cancel bail.
The Bihar government has told the court that the Nawada lawmaker has "several heinous cases pending against him" and that the politician's "status, ability to temper evidences" has been ignored.
Lalu Yadav's party had suspended Raj Ballabh Yadav when he was on the run for a month in February. He eventually surrendered.
The Bihar government had last month pleaded in the Supreme Court against bail to another Lalu Yadav partyman Mohammad Shahabuddin.
Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav were bitter rivals for years before they joined hands politically to defeat the BJP in last year's assembly election. The partnership has been tested by cases like Raj Ballabh Yadav, where the two leaders take very different stands.