The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bihar unit president Samrat Choudhary on January 10 termed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav “the symbol of corruption”. Mr. Choudhary was reacting to the filing of a chargesheet by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, naming Mr. Yadav’s wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and four others, in the land-for-jobs scam.
Mr. Choudhary alleged that the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were “ornaments” for Mr. Prasad who “ate fodder while serving as Chief Minister” and “ate the jobs of poor people while serving as Railway Minister”.
Mr. Yadav’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav came down heavily on the BJP, accused the party of misusing Central agencies, and proclaimed that his family was “not scared of ED and CBI”.
The ED’s case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the CBI on May 18, 2022 against Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav and others in the same matter.
“For Lalu-ji and his family members, the ED and CBI are ornaments. This case has been going on since 1996, when Lalu-ji was the Chief Minister and his allied party was in power in the Centre. Lalu-ji ate the fodder when he served as Chief Minister of Bihar and ate the jobs of the poor people while serving as Railway Minister of the country. His action proves that he is the symbol of corruption,” Mr. Choudhary told media persons in Patna.
In July 2023, the CBI filed a second chargesheet against Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ms. Devi, their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and 14 others.
The CBI has alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several substitutes for Group D posts had been appointed in different zones of the Indian Railways in exchange for land. The beneficiaries (from Patna), themselves or through family members, allegedly sold or gifted their land to Mr. Prasad’s family members and the private company controlled by them.
Several BJP leaders, including Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi, have been demanding that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seek an explanation from his deputy, Mr. Tejashwi Yadav, who has been named in a chargesheet in the case.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged that Mr. Kumar had compromised with corruption for fulfilling his political aspirations.
Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav slammed BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the actions taken against his family members. “We are not afraid of the action taken by ED and CBI. The BJP and RSS are very much aware that they will be wiped out in Lok Sabha election, so these people are misusing the central agencies against our family members. Let me say that the BJP and RSS themselves will be trapped in the net they have laid for others,” Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav at the RJD’s office here in Patna.
