On the day when a Delhi Court issued summons to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and 15 others in the land for job scam case, Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar made scathing attacks on Mr. Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allegedly running a corrupt government in the State.
The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday asked the former Railway Minister and other railway officials to appear before the court on October 4.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Vijay Sinha targeted the ruling Janata Dal (United) (JDU) leaders for calling Mr. Kumar a leader of impeccable image.
“Nitish Kumar is running the government in alliance with corrupt people like Lalu Prasad. Corruption is the family business of Lalu Prasad. They have been engaged in corruption since the beginning and this was bound to happen, this is not a new thing. Nitish Kumar should tell the people of Bihar how he is ruling Bihar in alliance with corrupt people and is trying to call himself a leader with a clean image,” Mr. Sinha said.
He further alleged that corruption is continuously taking place in all the departments of Bihar government and the Chief Minister is maintaining silence. He challenged Mr. Kumar that if he has courage then he should do a surprise inspection of the Health Department which is handled by Tejashwi Yadav and see how corruption prevails there.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said that after the chargesheet was filed against 17 people including Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in land for jobs scam case the RJD leaders should give point wise answers on all the issues.
Also read: Explained | What is the alleged land-for-jobs scam involving former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad?
Mr. Modi pointed out that JD(U) national president Rajiv Rajan Singh alias Lalan Singh has provided lots of strong evidence to CBI against Lalu Prasad, son Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi, daughter Hema Yadav and other accused in this case that none of them can escape punishment.
Mr. Modi said that Tejashwi Yadav should explain how he came to own a bungalow (D-1088) worth ₹150 crore in Delhi’s Friends Colony.
“On the behest of Lalu Prasad, when he was the Railway Minister, the land of those who were given jobs in Railways was taken through AK Infosystem Private Limited. Later this company worth crores was bought by Tejashwi Yadav for just ₹4 lakh. Lalu Prasad’s open offer was - give land, take job. In order to get a Group D job in the railways, Hridayanand Choudhary donated the valuable land of Patna to Rabri Devi and her daughter Hema Yadav,” Mr. Modi said.
He further said that if Tejashwi Yadav has the courage, he should respond to these allegations before the public with proof. He also said that Mr. Prasad ruled Bihar by taking the votes of backward and extremely backward communities, but removed poverty only from his family.
Mr. Modi stressed that those who snatched the land of the poor in exchange of giving them jobs as clerks and peons are promising to give government jobs to 10 lakh people.
Mr. Prasad on the other hand blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP MP Ramesh Bhiduri’s communal remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali.
“The Prime Minister has given rise to a distorted socio-political culture in which one of his MPs glorifies the terrorist who assassinated ‘Father of Nation’ Gandhi ji. On the behest of the PM, the BJP MP is using indecent unparliamentary and trivial language against an opposition MP inside the Parliament which is highly objectionable, condemnable and worrying for democracy and society. This is not Amrit Kaal (Age of Immortality) but Vish Kaal (Age of Venom),” Mr. Prasad wrote on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
