Sami Ahmad
PATNA—Seventy-four-year-old Lalu Prasad is recovering after his kidney transplant. However, politically, he is still haunted as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continues to visit his house frequently. So much so that his son, present deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, asks why don’t CBI set up an office in their house.
Though not very active, Lalu, the ex-chief minister of Bihar and former Railway Minister of India, is riled by Hindutva politics in the state. He returned from Singapore in February following his kidney transplant. His party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is the largest party, with 79 MLAs in the state Assembly of 243 seats.
It is alleged that these raids/visits/questionings are meant to put Tejaswhi Yadav under pressure and subsequently force chief minister Nitish Kumar to dump his alliance with Lalu’s RJD, the most important ally of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). Other than RJD and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Congress and CPI, CPI (M), CPI (ML)-Liberation and ex-chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM-Secular (Hindustani Awam Morcha) are the members of this alliance.
Incidentally, Tejashwi was in the news for meeting Tamil Nadu chief minister K.M. Stalin on March 1, on his birthday, in Chennai as he, too, is involved in the efforts of opposition unity at the national level against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.
Against this backdrop, just one day before the festival of Holi, he was quizzed for hours on Tuesday in the so-called land-for-jobs scam in Delhi while his wife Rabri Devi faced CBI in Patna on March 6. This was a pre-arranged meeting between her and CBI officials, but the media glare was immense, and a brawl was visible.
On February 27, a court issued the summons, and all accused were directed to appear on March 15. This purported scam is said to be involved in land deals of Rs. 4.39 crores while Lalu was a Railway minister of India during 2004-09. It is alleged that this land measuring 1,05,292 square feet was purchased at throwaway prices of Rs. 26 lakhs in Patna through five sale deeds and two gift deeds from 12 individuals in lieu of giving group D (the lowest) jobs like maintenance of tracks, railway coaches, departments and stores.
Lalu’s younger son Tejashwi and wife, ex-chief minister Rabri Devi are the other main targets of the central agencies investigating corruption charges.
It was reported that Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi were quizzed to ascertain specific facts about the larger conspiracy and money trail for which a case was registered on May 18 last year, nine years after Lalu relinquished his post as a minister. Apart from Lalu, Rabri and their two daughters, Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, were also named in that FIR. CBI had also raided 16 locations, including the homes of Lalu and Misa at that time.
Before the FIR registration, CBI started a preliminary enquiry in September 2021 into the allegations of appointment for substitutes in Group D posts in different zones of Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, violating the guidelines in place of land.
The charge sheet of this case was submitted in October 2022, naming 16 people. In the charge sheet, former General Manager of Central Railways Soumya Raghavan, former railways chief personnel officer Kamal Deep Mainrai, seven aspirants appointed as substitutes, and four private individuals, were named. Still, the name of Hema Yadav was omitted.
It may be mentioned that Lalu has been convicted and sentenced in several fodder scam cases. He is currently out on bail.
Tejashwi Yadav described CBI’s action as a result of his family’s relentless opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After a while, he came to attend Bihar Assembly when CBI reached to quiz Rabri Devi.
He addressed the press on the Assembly premises and alleged, “central agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to align with that party.”
BJP used this episode to target Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United) had called off its alliance with the BJP last year on August 9. Instead, he joined hands with the RJD in the state. It is also rumoured that BJP is trying to win back Nitish Kumar’s support as it is not very confident about the parliamentary election of 2024. But, interestingly, BJP keeps saying that the door of the BJP for Nitish Kumar is shut permanently.
In 2019, the BJP-led NDA won 39 out of 49 parliamentary seats. However, as Nitish is not with the BJP and is in the camp of the Grand Alliance, it is highly unlikely that BJP would get a repeat of 2019’s success of NDA.
In 2017 Nitish Kumar parted ways with Lalu’s RJD after the then deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s name was involved in the so-called IRCTC scam. At that time, Nitish made this an excuse to dump Tejashwi, but this time he seems firmly behind him.
JD(U) alleged that CBI’s modus operandi in cases relating to opposition leaders was questionable. It reiterated that the agency must behave transparently and unbiasedly as it faces credibility questions.
JD(U) spokesperson Sunil Singh claimed that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar continued his stand of zero tolerance against corruption. He believes Mahagathbandhan 2.0 was fostered only after CBI failed to produce clinching evidence in the alleged IRCTC scam.
Meanwhile, Lalu’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who had donated a kidney to him, alleged that her father is being harassed and warned the Centre of the consequences if anything happened to him. Rohini tweeted, “Papa is constantly being harassed. I will not spare anyone if anything happens to him. You are troubling my father; it is not right. All this will be remembered. Time is powerful and has great power.”
Rohini, who is very active on social media, wrote, “If my father undergoes any suffering because of all this, I will shake the chair in Delhi. Now the limit of enduring has passed.”
