Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that he agreed with the rivalry of ally RJD that the latest crackdown on its president Lalu Prasad and his relations by the CBI and ED was “politically motivated”. This was in distinction to the stand he took in 2017 when he had wished the ally to come back clear on costs of corruption. The JD(U) chief additionally rubbished speculations that he was sustaining an eloquent silence on the problem due to anxieties about tarnishing his personal picture for probity by aligning with “tainted” politicians and will even be considering of breaking away with the “Mahagathbandhan”, which moreover RJD, additionally consists of Congress and the Left. Kumar was approached with queries by journalists who wished to learn about his views on the questioning of Lalu Prasad and his spouse Rabri Devi by CBI earlier this week, adopted by raids performed on various premises, together with homes of his three daughters and a daughter-in-law by ED on Friday and a contemporary summons issued by the CBI to the youthful son and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.
“What do I have to say, those who are at the receiving end are giving an adequate response,” mentioned Kumar in his trademark enigmatic model, earlier than including, “similar things happened in 2017 when I was on this side (in the anti-BJP camp). Now that I am here again, these things are happening again.”
The allusion was to the land for inns case by which the ED had named, together with others, Yadav, who was the Deputy CM then as properly, and Kumar recalled having requested the younger RJD chief to “explain” his facet of the story and the BJP having exploited the state of affairs to its benefit.
Kumar was understood to have requested Yadav to resign his ministerial berth on ethical grounds for the interval until his identify was cleared, a proposition to which the RJD didn’t agree. The JD(U) chief himself resigned as chief minister, in disgust, and the BJP, his former ally, got here with the supply of unconditional help.
Subsequently, Kumar fashioned a brand new authorities with the BJP, in lower than 24 hours of resigning.
“I do not wish to take any names because the person (in BJP) who came to me with the offer of support may get further marginalised in his party,” mentioned Kumar, however dropped his guard when journalists discovered the clue and talked about former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.
#WATCH | Patna: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar speaks on Central companies’ raids on Opposition leaders, incl Tejashwi Yadav.
He says, “…This happened in 2017. Then we (JDU-RJD) went our separate ways…5 yrs went by & when we came together, raids occurred again. What can I say?…” pic.twitter.com/upCjO56ali
— ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2023
“What do I say about Sushil Kumar Modi? I need not repeat that I never wanted him to suffer his current fate. But he is welcome to keep speaking against me. Maybe it will resurrect him politically,” mentioned Kumar, visibly upset over the tirade towards himself by the previous deputy ever since he dumped the BJP in August final 12 months.
Kumar additionally made gentle of his JD(U) not being a signatory to the latest letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in protest towards CBI arresting Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and mentioned, “I will be there when all parties (opposed to BJP) agree to unitedly fight the next Lok Sabha polls.”
The JD(U) chief, nevertheless, reiterated, “I have no (prime ministerial) ambitions for myself. I had made it clear even at the recent convention of CPIML(L) where all constituents of the Mahagathbandhan were present. I had even asked the Congress to take the lead in forging oppositional unity.”
To a pointed query as as to if he might consider pulling out of the “opposition camp” due to corruption circumstances towards leaders of most non-NDA events, he exclaimed, “The question does not arise.”
‘Rumours’: Tejashwi Yadav on ED claims that Rs 600 cr ‘proceeds of crime’ detected throughout raids
Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday dubbed as “rumours” the declare of the Enforcement Directorate that proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 600 crore have been detected throughout searches on premises owned by him and shut relations. The RJD chief, who’s at present away in Delhi beside his spouse who’s anticipating their first youngster, additionally mentioned the BJP might be left embarrassed if he made public the “panchnama” (seizure record) signed after the raids.
“Just recall, in 2007, transactions worth Rs 8,000 crore, including a mall and hundreds of land plots, were alleged”, tweeted Yadav, in an apparent reference to the alleged land-for-hotels rip-off pertaining to his father Lalu Prasad’s tenure because the railway minister.
Now dealing with the warmth within the land-for-jobs ‘rip-off’ pertaining to, roughly, the identical interval, Yadav additionally recalled his identify being linked to a mall seized in Gurugram, which turned out to be owned by a non-public firm.
The RJD had threatened authorized motion towards media retailers for “wrongly” reporting that Yadav, the social gathering supremo’s son and inheritor obvious, owned the industrial institution.
“The BJP government (at the Centre) spreading rumours again, quoting sources. It should have asked its spin doctors to first settle the account on the previous operations, before coming up with the new tale of Rs 600 crore”, the RJD chief mentioned.
Earlier on Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate mentioned it has seized “unaccounted cash” of Rs 1 crore and “detected proceeds of crime worth Rs 600 crore” after it raided RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s household in reference to a cash laundering case linked to the railways land-for-jobs ‘rip-off’.
“Let them make public the panchnama (seizure list) signed after the raids. If we do so on our own, think of the embarrassment that these BJP leaders will have to face”, added Yadav, who peppered his two tweets with fairly a number of smileys to say that he was taking all of it on the chin.
भाजपा सरकार द्वारा सूत्रों के हवाले से इधर-उधर की भ्रामक अफवाह फैलाने अथवा खबर प्लांट करवाने की बजाय रेड के बाद हस्ताक्षर किए जाने वाले पंचनामे (Seizure List) की सूची ही सावर्जनिक कर देनी चाहिए।
अगर हम इसे सार्वजनिक कर देंगे तो इन बेचारे नेताओं की क्या इज्जत रहेगी? सोच लो..
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) March 11, 2023
The ED had launched raids on Friday at a number of areas linked to Prasad’s relations, together with that of his son Tejashwi in Delhi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had lately questioned Prasad and his spouse Rabri Devi — former chief ministers of Bihar — within the case.
