Remove Tejashwi, Tej Pratap from Bihar cabinet: BJP

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday demanded the sacking of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's two minister sons - Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav from the Bihar cabinet in the wake of CBI lodging an FIR against them.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has time and again said that either he will survive or corruption in the state. I am hopeful that he will not be silent and will take action in the case," Sushil Modi told reporters here.

"BJP demands immediate dismissal of Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his brother and minister Tej Pratap Yadav from the state cabinet," he said.

The investigating agency during the day carried out searches in 12 locations in Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Gurugram after registering a corruption case against Prasad and his family members, including Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar in a case of criminal conspiracy and cheating and corruption.

CBI has registered case against Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and his son Tejashwi, former IRCTC MD, P K Goyal, Sarla Gupta who is the wife of Yadav's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, among others.

The CBI has lodged FIR for alleged irregularities in the tender for development, maintenance and operation of BNR Hotels in Ranchi and Puri, awarded to private Sujata Hotels in 2006.

Bihar's Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and then senior JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwary had alleged that Lalu Prasad as railway minister had sold off Railways' two hotels at Ranchi and Puri to Sujata Hotel's Harsh Kochar. In turn, Kochar was given two acres registered in the name of 'Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd', the shares of which were later transferred to Lalu Prasad's family, Modi claimed.

The issue of corrupt land deals that included two acres at Saguna Mor in Patna on which Bihar's biggest mall is being developed, was first of all raised by Singh and Tiwary during a press conference held on August 12, 2008, he said.

The then JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and Singh had submitted a memorandum containing 600 pages of documents to the then prime minister Manmohan Singh seeking action against Prasad for the alleged land deals as a railway minister, Sushil Modi said. "The credit must be given to Singh and Tiwary," he said adding it is another matter that Tiwary is now speaking in favour of Prasad. "It was Tiwary who once said that Lalu Prasad is a habitual offender who did not learn any lesson from the fodder scam," he added.

Sushil Modi, who was accompanied by former Bihar BJP president Nand Kishore Yadav and state unit vice-president Devesh Kumar, said that Prasad has not spoken anything on the corrupt land deals that he did as a "quid pro quo" measure as a railway minister but went on to explaining the process of award of tender for hotels. Referring to RJD's allegations of vendetta politics in the CBI raids, he asked RJD leaders to talk on the merit of the case.

"RJD and Congress are not talking or discussing on the merit of the case. Why was Delight Marketing Company Ltd handed over to Prasad's family, why was its name changed to LARA LLP, how did Tejashwi become the owner of crores of rupees by merely investing Rs 4 lakh in the company ...They should talk on merit," Sushil Modi said.

Ranchi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday termed the lodging of a corruption case against him and CBI searches at the premises his family members as a "BJP conspiracy" and "witch hunt" and claimed he was innocent.

"BJP wants to silence everyone who goes against it. The party wants to create a monopoly in India," he said.

Reacting to the CBI's charges, he said he took over as the railway minister on May 31, 2004 and all the decisions about handing over of the hotels were taken before that.

"So the government of the day, the Atal Bihari government, must respond to CBI's charges," he said.

"This is a BJP conspiracy. The raid is a witch hunt. There is no illegality. I have done nothing wrong. I am open to any probe by the CBI," said Prasad, who appeared before the special CBI court here in two fodder scam cases.

The former railway minister was reacting to CBI's searches at 12 locations in Ranchi, Patna, New Delhi and Gurgaon, after registering a corruption case against him and his family members including his son, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav.

Prasad said he would unite the opposition against BJP and go ahead with the Patna rally on August 27.

"The BJP and the RSS are conspiring against me and my family for speaking against them. But they will not be able to do any harm to me as I have not done anything wrong," he said. Ranchi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday termed the lodging of a corruption case against him and CBI searches at the premises his family members as a "BJP conspiracy" and "witch hunt" and claimed he was innocent.

"BJP wants to silence everyone who goes against it. The party wants to create a monopoly in India," he said.

Reacting to the CBI's charges, he said he took over as the railway minister on May 31, 2004 and all the decisions about handing over of the hotels were taken before that.

"So the government of the day, the Atal Bihari government, must respond to CBI's charges," he said.

"This is a BJP conspiracy. The raid is a witch hunt. There is no illegality. I have done nothing wrong. I am open to any probe by the CBI," said Prasad, who appeared before the special CBI court here in two fodder scam cases.

The former railway minister was reacting to CBI's searches at 12 locations in Ranchi, Patna, New Delhi and Gurgaon, after registering a corruption case against him and his family members including his son, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav.

Prasad said he would unite the opposition against BJP and go ahead with the Patna rally on August 27.

"The BJP and the RSS are conspiring against me and my family for speaking against them. But they will not be able to do any harm to me as I have not done anything wrong," he said.

The Congress on Friday dubbed the CBI and ED as "captive puppets" of the BJP-led NDA government and accused them of acting like its "dirty tricks department" to seek revenge against political opponents of the ruling party.

Criticising the raids against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav who is in a coalition government with the JD-U and the Congress in Bihar, AICC chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the law of the land must prevail impartially against all.

"The law of the land must take its own course in an impartial and just manner. However, when law enforcing agencies like CBI/ED become 'captive puppets' of the BJP government, acting as 'dirty tricks department' to seek revenge against political opponents, it doesn't bode well for democracy," he said.

Surjewala raised questions over the inordinate delay of 13 years in registering a case in the matter which dates back to 2004 and asked whether the Railways has filed any criminal complaint with the CBI and why it did not cancel

the contract.

"The BJP and the CBI need to answer certain fundamental questions. The matter, as per CBI, dates back to the year 2004 while FIR is lodged in the year 2017, then why this inordinate delay and particular silence maintained by BJP for last 3 years?" he asked.

He also asked that the lease was given through a tender in 2004 and what action has the Railways taken so far.

The fresh CBI case against Lalu Prasad and his family members for alleged corruption may have invited noisy protests from his party but its ally JD(U) has maintained a studied silence and not defended the beleaguered RJD boss.

Several party leaders declined to come on record while reacting to the new case against Prasad, already convicted in a fodder scam case, an indication that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wants to keep his 'Mr clean' image intact without being seen to be denting the opposition unity again after raising a storm with his support to the NDA's presidential nominee.

With troubles mounting for the RJD supremo, a JD(U) leader said his party will wait and watch how things unfold in the coming weeks and months.